Augustgradian Adventure: Augustgrad Saga
by Zulon
Summary: The Adventure in Augustgrad continues...with heroes, villians, and traitors within. StarCraft - Copyright Blizzard Sonic - Copyright Sega. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Augustgradian Arrival

Location: Inside Mount Murasia

Evening...

* * *

The interior of the Freedom Two seemed quieter now that Bunnie and Antoine had chosen to stay behind in Soleanna, but the two newlyweds deserved some alone time together. Sally, Amy, Mighty, and Ray entered the cockpit where they found Tails and Sonic seated within the Pilot and co-pilots chairs respective as they watched through the view window as the twinkling lights of a city came in to view.

"There it is Central City," Tails declared as a voice crackled through the radio.

"This is control tower," the voice said, "please identify yourself."

"This Acorn Republic vessel; Freedom Two requesting landing clearance...the Prime Minister is expecting us," Tails replied.

"One moment..." the voice said as the seconds slowly ticked by, "Permission granted. Hanger 10 is now open you your aircraft."

Tails continued to pilot towards the mainland as the light of Central City; the lights of the main Airport became visible against the growing darkness as the ship slowly touched down on the tarmac and came to a complete stop once it pulled into an open hanger.

"We made it," Amy cheered as she trotted down the loading ramp followed by the others with bags in hand.

"Remember this is a diplomatic mission," Sally reminded, "We need to set a good example to these Terrans if we hope to persuade them to ally us."

"Isn't there suppose to be someone here to meet us?" Mighty asked.

"The Prime Minister's aide was suppose to be here to greet us, but-" Sally said as she was interrupted by Ray.

"S-someone's c-coming."

Sure enough a black limousine was tearing across the tarmac and was headed in their direction before slowing to a stop in front of the hanger allowing a young woman to step out and began approaching them. She was of Asian ancestry with neck length black hair and dressed in a short black skirt with a white blouse, high heels and a pair of reading glasses.

"Miss Acorn?" she asked, "I'm Yoki Uresaki, Prime Minister Carmichael Aide. I apologize for him being unable to greet you when you arrived."

"That's quite alright," Sally replied, "The Prime Minister explained that he recently underwent corrective knee surgery."

"That's good to know," she said, "wait a minute...I thought there was supposed to be more of you?"

"Oh...Bunnie and Antoine stayed behind in Soleanna to have their honeymoon. They'll be along later."  
"Vary well then, we should get going," Yoki suggested.

The Mobians placed their bags and equipment within the truck of and piled into the limo before it headed along the tarmac and headed off towards the Prime Minister's residence, taking the long way that allowed Miss Uresaki explained the city's history.

"Central City is not only the capitol of the Mar Sara Province but the capitol of the Terran Republic as well. It was the first Terran Colony founded over seven hundred years ago, but back then it was known simply as Central."

"How large is the city?" Sally asked.

"It covers 22.43 square miles with an elevation of 460m, and is divided into five districts: The Airport, the City Center, Beacon Hill, Jackson Heights, and Coal Harbour," she replied.

"And where would the Prime Minister's residence be?" Tails asked.

"The Prime Minister's Residence is located between Beacon Hill and Jackson Heights."

"It looks like there's some sort of festival," Sonic said noticing the banners and lights hanging from the numerous building and trees.

"That would be for the upcoming weeklong festival celebrating the founding of Central," Yoki explained, "you've chosen the perfect time to come here. Food, fireworks, entertainment, and the EX Grand Prix."

"EX Grand Prix?" Tails questioned.

"It's a country wide race using Extreme Gear," the Terran Female explained as she adjusted her glasses.

"You have Extreme Gear?" Sonic asked surprised.

"We created it, although there have been persistent rumours that the technology was sold to some Armada several years ago. Anyways we're arrived."

The Prime Minister's residence was a vast sprawling mansion located off the only road that lead into the Jackson Heights neighbourhood, but was still within the chic Beacon Hill district.

"Whoa!" Mighty exclaimed, "It's huge."

"It used to belong to Doran Routhe, but several years after being chosen as King he donated it to the government and has served as the Prime Minister's Residence ever since."

The limousine passed through a large rot-iron gate and slowed to a stop out in front of the mansion allowing the Mobians to exit the vehicle and entered the Prime Minister's residence once they had retrieved their bags and equipment.

* * *

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

10pm...

* * *

The Mobians didn't get to meet the Prime Minister immediately; instead they were treated to dinner and each given a private room that they would use for the duration of their stay, before Miss Uresaki led Sally and Sonic to the Prime Minister's office.

"The Prime Minister will be with you shortly. Please remain here," she said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Maaann! You think he could've met us soon," Sonic complained as he flopped down on a black leather couch that was against the wall next to the door.

"He's a very busy man," Sally said as she crossed the hardwood floor to a nearby wall, "running an entire nation isn't easy trust me."

"Well...I've got to admit that I was kinda expecting their capital to be a little more high-tech," Sonic said placing his hands behind his head.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't see their military," Sonic replied, "From what me and Tails saw the Terrans in Soleanna were doing a pretty good job holding their own against Eggman's robots..."

Sally had stopped listening at that point as she studied a large detailed map of Augustgrad that was mounted on the wall. Central Augustgrad was made up of three islands that contained the provinces of Mar Sara, Chau Sara, Diamond Hills, Ash'Arak, and Rio Del Santos. To the right of the provinces of Mar Sara and Rio Del Santos was a large island called Umoja, while to the left of the provinces of Chau Sara, Diamond Hills, and Ash'Arak was another island; Torsonis. To the north of Torsonis was another island about half its size called Halcyon. Finally to the north of Umoja were several small islands that together made up the province of Tyrador. Each and every province with the exception of Tyrador was interconnected with several bridges and roads.

"This place is huge," Sally muttered.

Just then the door opened causing Sonic to suddenly spring into a sitting position as a man with short red hair, blue eyes, and dressed in a gray tracksuit entered the room with the aid of a wooden cane in his right hand.

"My apologies for keeping you," he said, "I was with my doctor."

"That's quite alright," Sally said.

"And there's Sonic," the Prime Minister said, "You have all our thanks for rescuing or beloved princess."

"It was nothing," Sonic said, "But I wasn't the only one who helped."

"Yes...well we have much to discuss," Carmichael said as he limped over to his desk, "Unfortunately that will have to wait, you see my family is returning home after being out of the province."

"We understand," Sally said, "It's been a long day for all of us."

The Prime Minister opened one of his desk drawers and removed several plastic cards for within including ones with red neck straps.

"When you leave the premise, these will allow you back on the grounds," He explained holding the cards with the straps, "the others are Gift Cards courtesy of the people of Augustgrad with a limit of six hundred credits."

"Hide Amy's," Sonic said sarcastically, "She'll have hers all spent before we've completed our mission."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Arrested Development

Location: Central City

Later that night...

* * *

Sonic had been tossing and turning for almost two hours after he and Sally had met with the Prime Minister and it was all in a vain attempt to get comfortable, and he was fighting a losing battle. Sonic let out a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling of his darkened room before he flung the covers from his body and climbed out of bed and walked over to the door where he slipped his feet into his sneakers, and exited the room, but not before grabbing his smartcard. Anything would be better then lying awake till dawn and going for a run would be a much needed distraction for him. He tiptoed down the hallway, passing by several closed doors before reaching the entryway of the mansion, slowly descending down the large curved staircase that was the most dominant feature in the area. As he finally planted his feet on the marble tile floor and made a short walk to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. The Hedgehog took a breath of cold, yet refreshing air and gazed around the grounds, which was well lit with neatly cut grass, blooming flowers and cherry-blossom trees that provided shade and carpeted the cobblestone walkway with petals.

"Can't sleep?" a voice asked causing the hedgehog to slow to a stop and found Mighty sitting on a wooden bench within the garden.

"Yeah...It's hard to sleep when the bed's not your own. What about you?"

"I hear ya, been tossing and turning since going to bed," Mighty replied, "figured some fresh air would help."

"I'm gonna go exploring. Gotta good look at most of the city while we were being shown around, but I'd like to what else there is," Sonic said, "Plus it'll be better then just tossing and turning till morning."

"Too bad Knuckles couldn't come along, bet he'd like it here," Mighty murmured.

"Yeah, seems kinda weird that Knucklehead isn't here," Sonic admitted. "but you know him, he was never one to like the big city."

"True. Even when Echidnaopolis was still on Angel Island he still preferred that little habitat of his," Mighty admitted.

"Well I'm off," Sonic said.

"Don't stay up too late," Mighty said imitating Sally.

"Yeah! Yeah," Sonic snorted as he began walking off, "See ya later Mighty."

The blue hedgehog walked away leaving the Armadillo behind, enjoying the scenery before finally reaching the main gate of the estate. Suddenly a wall mounted screen activated near the gate followed by a voice.

"Adjutant Online. Good evening, how may I be of service?"

Sonic turned to see what looked like a face staring at him, it was feminine but highly mechanical.

"Oh! I was just going out for a run," Sonic replied.

"Very well, I require your smart card in order to log your departure," the Adjutant explained.

Sonic slipped the card out of his glove and waved it in front of a scanning device causing the gate to slid open.

"Your departure has been logged. Please have a safe outing and be sure not to lose your smart card."

"I will," Sonic replied as he raced out through the open gate.

* * *

Location: Mar Sara Province

Sometime later...

* * *

Sonic wasn't sure how long he had been running and admittedly he didn't care; he just enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing through his fur as he raced through the Augustgradian Countryside. His exploration had taken him to the neighbouring province of Chau Sara which wasn't that much different from Mar Sara, lots of trees and space between the various towns, with a few farms here and there. Sonic jogged, taking in what sights he could that were illuminated by the artificial moon and stars and passing what appeared to be a large refinery on the outskirts of a small town. The town was called Anthem according to the town sign and it was there that Sonic decided that it was about time to stop and take a break. There was much to Anthem, it was your typical farming town where nothing exciting ever happened and it make Knothole look exciting by comparison. Sonic emerged from a small twenty-four hour convenience store and took a sip of the bottled Sammuro Juice that he had just purchased, it had a taste that reminded him of passion fruit which was certainly not a bad thing. Sonic took a seat on the edge of the sidewalk near the road in order to finish his drink when a car pulled into the parking lot and parked next to a limousine allowing two a figure to step out. One was a blonde haired with a Confederate bandana covering his scalp, gray eyes, and wore black pants with a black T-shirt and the other was a short, but muscular man with a shaved head, a full beard, and dressed in a dark suit.

"Romy Pyrius?" the bald man asked.

"That correct," he replied, "Julius Antoine Dale I presume. I was honestly expecting your second-in-command to be making this deal not you."

"It's better that I oversee this deal rather then one of my underlings. They can be trusted," the man replied, "you can call me Fagin."

"Do you have the product?" Romy inquired.

"I do," Fagin replied, "but we need to wait for the others to arrive before we start the auction."

Sonic watched as several more cars pulled into the parking lot and their occupants exited, approaching the other two Terrans.

"Gentlemen! My name is Fagin and I have six hundred kilos of Hab fresh from Torsonis," he said, "We'll start the bidding at 10,000 credits."

Sonic finished his drink and stood up, tossing the bottle into a nearby garbage and decided to head back to Central City and was already halfway across the entrance of the parking lot when the sound of sirens filled the air followed by several police cruisers suddenly surrounded the area, while several officers got out with guns drawn.

"CCPD! HANDS IN THE AIR AND GET ON THE GROUND!" one of the officers yelled.

The gathered Terrans did as they were told and the officers began making the arrests when one of the officers suddenly yelled at Sonic to do the same.

"Whoa! Wait a minute I'm not involved in this!" Sonic shouted.

"GET...ON...THE...GROUND!"

"C'mon! I didn't do anything wrong!"  
The officer fired his weapon and imbedded a pair of small spikes into the Hedgehog's chest as several volts of electricity shot through his body, his muscles seizing up as he collapsed to the ground in a heap. The cops were on him in seconds, his hands cuffed behind his back as he was shoved into the back of a police cruisers, his body having not yet recovered from being on the wrong end of a taser gun.

* * *

Location: Central City PD

Two hours later...

* * *

Sergeant Cole Hickson slammed his hands down on the table causing Sonic to flinch as he sat within the interrogation room of Central City's Police Department after his arrest by the Narcotics Taskforce. The man was bald with menacing eyes, while the left side of his face had sustained some pretty nasty burn scars.

"You like Crab?" Hickson asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What about Snoke? Bog? Turk? How about Fireweed? We already got on Hab charges and for resisting arrest," the Terran said.

"Look I wasn't involve in that, I'm innocent," Sonic stated.

"Yeah they all say that. Drug trafficking is a serious crime, with a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison,"

Sergeant Hickson explained, "If you cooperate maybe I'll put in a good word for you."

"You want me to confess to something that I didn't do? Do you have any idea who I am?" Sonic asked angrily.

"I frankly don't care," the Terran replied, "I don't like people trafficking drugs into my city, just make it easy on yourself."

"I'm not saying another word, until I get my phone call," Sonic said defiantly.

"Fine. Maybe a few hours in the ice box will make you more complacent," he said as wave to the tinted glass.

Several seconds later a pair of officers entered the room and placed cuffs on Sonic before leading him out of the interrogation room. He was led down the hallway for several minutes until they reached an empty holding cells within the cellblock and was shoved inside once his cuffs had been removed. As he entered the cell he found that it contained only a small cot, stainless steel toilet, and a small sink.

"Great..." Sonic muttered as he sat down on the cot and placed his hands on his face, "Sal's gonna kill me."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Release

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

The next morning...

* * *

The chirping of the birds located outside his bedroom window was enough to draw Tails out of his sleep, completely groggy from the restless night he had had. Tails yawned and threw the blankets from off of his body and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before climbing out of bed.

"Morning Gill," Tails said to the small robot that rested on his bedside table.

"Morning, gill gill," he replied coming out of sleep mode and floated off the table.

Tails let out another yawn as he walked over to the wall mounted flat-panel television and switched it on, causing the logo of UNN; Augustgrad's public television network to appear on the screen. The logo was replaced by a the news anchor who was a young woman dressed in a dark suit with bleach blonde hair, dark eyes and striking facial features.

"Welcome back to United Morning. I am Tatiana Kempinski and this is this morning's news. Velerian Mengsk; son of Finance Minister Arcturus Mengsk was on hand yesterday for the official opening of the Juliana Pasteur Cancer Research Center," she said with a accent that was clearly derived from Russian as her image was replaced by that of a young man.

He was a rather handsome individual, with blonde hair that was parted in the middle, gray eyes, and dressed in a dark suit as his stood amongst the reporters hounding him with questions while photographers snapped his picture.

"My mother died of cancer," the man said, "That is why I decided to name this building in her honour. It is my hopes that the research conducted here will one day lead to a cure."

The video ended and returned by to the anchorwoman who continued her report.

" Juliana Pasteur died earlier this year after a lengthy battle with cancer. Velerian has been openly critical of Health Minister Nuura Joss as well as he father due to their lack of proper Cancer Funding. In other news, Central City PD's Narcotics Taskforce made a major bust in Anthem over night seizing 10,000 dollars worth of Hab and arrested several individuals including Torsonian Crime lord Julius Antoine Dale, small time drug dealer Romy Pyrius, and Sonic the Hedgehog."

"OH MY GOD," Tails shouted as he bolted out his bedroom door with Gill trailing behind, "AUNT SALLY!?"

His shouting had pretty much woken everyone within the Diplomatic Wing of the Prime Minister's residence and Sally emerged from her room several minutes later dressed in her blue nightgown both groggy and annoyed that her sleep had been disrupted.

"This better be good, Tails," Sally yawned.

"Sonic's been arrested!" the young fox cried out causing Sally to immediately snapped out of her sleepiness.

"You're sure?" Sally asked.

"I just seen it on the local news channel," Tails replied, "The Narcotics Taskforce did a major drug bust and Sonic was at the scene."

"Oh wonderful! This was not the impression I wanted the Terrans to have of us," Sally said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What's all the commotion?" Amy asked emerging from her room dressed in a nightgown.

"Sonic's in jail," Sally replied, "...again. I'm gonna get dress, find one of the servants, see if you guys can find someone that can wake the Prime Minister."

* * *

Location: Central City

Two hours later...

* * *

If it hadn't been for the fact that she was fuming with anger Sally might've enjoyed the trip through Central City, but instead her attention was fixed on what she was going to do to Sonic once they had gotten him out of Police custody.

"This was not how I pictured the start of my day," Sally muttered.

"Nor mine," Carmichael replied sitting within the back seat wearing a dark suit, "My Deputy Prime Minister will be meeting us there. Hopefully we'll have him released and be back within the hour."

The Prime Minister's cell phone began ringing and he was quick to answer it.

"Hello? Oh hello Miranda, I assume you've finally arrived at the airport? Good, call Jarvis and let him know you've arrived, I'm currently in the City Center with the ambassador. One of her companions appears to have gotten himself into a bit of legal trouble and we're headed down to bail him out. I'll see you soon. Love you."

"I thought you said that you said your family was due home last night?" Sally questioned.

"They were, but their flight had mechanical problems. They didn't leave Tyrador till last night," he replied as he went about returning his cell phone to his breast pocket when it let out a beep that caused him to look at it.

"What is it?" Sally asked when Carmichael didn't immediately say anything.

"It's an SMS Text Message from my Deputy Prime Minister and it's not good," he replied.

"Great, like we need any more problems," Sally said, "What does it say?"

"According to Jorgensen, the arresting officer was Sergeant Cole Hickson, he's known rather infamously for his use of heavy handed tactics to get confessions. Sonic had his rights violated when he was refused his request to make his phone call," the Prime Minister explained, "and because you're here for diplomatic talks your diplomatic immunity extends to him as well as the rest of your friends."

"Prime Minister, we've arrived at our destination," the drive reported as he pulled into the limousine into the parking lot of the Central City Police Department.

"Do you see Jorgensen anywhere?"

"He's standing just outside the entrance," the drive replied.

"Well," Carmichael said opening the car door, "let's get this over with."

It was just a short walk to the front of the building, but the Prime Minister was forced to move at a slower pace aided by his cane in an effort not to overwork himself needlessly. They were soon greeted by a man dressed in a dark suit with oily dark hair that was slicked back, dark eyes, and facial features like a hawk.

"Princess, this is Maximillian Jorgensen, my Deputy Prime Minister," he introduced.

"I just wish it was under better circumstances," Jorgensen said, "come along, let's get your friend released."

The trio entered the department and found it to be a hub of activity with numerous conversations being played out all at the same time over the sounds of ringing telephones, while officers dressed in blue uniforms were busily running about. The group stopped in front of a small visitation desk with a young man sitting at it.

"Just a moment, please," the man said.

"Take your time," replied politely causing the man to look up at them.

"Oh! Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, what can I do for you?" he asked.

"You arrested a young man last night and we'd like him to be released under the grounds of diplomatic immunity," Jorgensen explained.

"Alright, can I get a name please?"

"Sonic Maurice Hedgehog," Sally replied.

"Just one moment," he said entering the information into his computer, "Hedgehog, Sonic. Arrested last night at Anthem at 2:35am for Drug Trafficking. I'll tell the guard that he is to be released immediately."

The man grabbed a phone that was resting nearby and punched a number on the keypad and began speaking to the individual on the end of the line.

"So which one is the one who arrested Sonic?" Sally whispered to Carmichael.

"Let's try not start anything," Jorgensen warned.

"I had no intention. I was just curious that's all," Sally replied.

"Bald headed man standing next to the vending machine," Carmichael replied.

"I can see why people feel he's so intimidating," Sally said upon noticing the burn scars covering his face.

Sonic emerged from the back, escorted by another officer and looked eyes with Sergeant Hickson.

"I should sue your ass," Sonic said to him when he suddenly noticed Sally, "Um...is it too late to put me back in my cell?"

"OH NO YOU DON'T," Sally said as her anger had suddenly boiled over.

She stormed over to the hedgehog and seized him by the ear and proceeded to drag him outside.

"Geez Sal, not so rough," Sonic complained rubbing his ear several minutes later.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRIGGING MIND!?" she yelled.

"Hey! Back off Sal," Sonic shouted, "those were trumped up charges."

"I know that, but the Terrans don't," Sally said crossing her arms, "they probably think we're trying to traffic illegal drugs out of the country. And now it's gonna be harder to convince the Terrans to join. Much harder."

"HEY! I was mindin' my own business when the cops showed up. I even told them I wasn't involved and you know that that got me? A few hundred volts from a stun-gun," Sonic said his own anger rising.

"There's no point in arguing what already happened," Carmichael stated emerging from the police department along with his Deputy Prime Minister, "We just need move forward."

Sally and Sonic looked at one another and realised that the Prime Minister was indeed correct.

"I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that," Sally apologized.

"Yeah me too," Sonic replied.

"Well now that that's settled we should really be heading back, we still have much to discuss," Carmichael stated.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Preparations

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

One hour after Sonic was released from jail...

* * *

After being stuck in and 8x8 cell for the past several hours Sonic was just glad to be free as a bird. The hedgehog emerged from his private room and found Tails standing on the other side of the door quite prepared to knock on it.

"Hey Tails. What's up?"

"We're due to have lunch with the Prime Minister and his family," Tails explained, "Aunt Sally asked me to fetch you."  
"Yeah sorry about that," Sonic replied, "Is everyone already down there?"

"They are," Tails answered, "We shouldn't keep them waiting."

"Agreed. Let's get going then."

Sonic and Tails preceded downstairs and found the others standing at the entrance of a large, grand dining area with wood floors, an elegant and no doubt expensive Sunwood dining table that had been imported in from the Chau Sara Province and a massive crystal chandler that hung from the ceiling. The Prime Minister was standing within the room with three others when the Mobians entered.

"I'd like you to meet my family," Carmichael said

"Hello, I'm Miranda," the woman with short blonde hair, dark blue eyes and wearing a yellow sundress introduced.

"I'm Molly," a girl in her late teens with light blue eyes, orange hair that was tied back into a ponytail and wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans said.

"I-I'm Leon," a young boy no older then seven with dark brown hair with a reddish hue, olive coloured eyes, and dressed in a suit similar to the one his father wore stammered nervously.

The Mobians introduced themselves and soon sat down to a bowl of piping hot chicken and dumplings; the Prime Minister's favourite before Molly broke the silence.

"So...are we gonna start with the sodomy jokes now or after lunch?"

"Molly!" Carmichael cried out, "That's highly inappropriate."

"What? It funny," she said defensively.

"There's a time and a place for stuff like that. This is not that time."

"Ok, ok! Sorry," she apologized, "I just thought I'd lighten the mood."

There was definitely an awkwardness in the room and Sally immediately went about remedying the situation by getting right down to business.

"We need to discuss Robotnik and the possibility of joining our alliance alongside the United Federation," Sally stated.

"I'm gonna make some calls to the other party leaders for an emergency session of the Assembly but they will most likely be unable to make it till the middle of next week," Carmichael explained, "I would strongly suggest pleading your case to the Assembly."

"What? You just can't say yes or no to help in the fight against Eggman?" Sonic asked rather rudely.

"Sonic," warned Sally.

"It's a little more complicated then that," Miranda stated, "the government is currently a minority."

"M-minority?" Ray stuttered.

"The United Assembly consists of 308 seats, currently my political party holds only 114 of those seats," The Prime Minister explained, "the other seats are divided amongst the other political parties forcing me to make concessions and deals in order to garner the necessary votes in order to get bills passed."

"Eggman already attacked Soleanna, isn't that incentive enough?" Sonic asked.

"There are those who would say that Soleanna was just waiting to be attacked because it's located out in Murasia," Carmichael began, "they'll just blame lack of security and blame it on my Defence Minister; who frankly has a lot to answer for."

"What can I expect when I speak in front of the Assembly?" Sally asked.

"The Vanu will unanimously oppose anything you have to say," Carmichael explained.

"You mean they won't even hear us out?" Amy asked in shock.

"How can I put this simply…the Vanu are well…"

"Racist," Molly said butting in.

"Thank you," Carmichael said with an irritated tone.

"What's the point of sugar coating it, dad? They have a right to know," Molly replied.

"…Very well," Carmichael said with a sigh, "the Vanu is a small political party made up of Overlanders and Terrans who were against allowing your people into Augustgrad. Rumour has it that they also have militant wing, but there's been no hard evidence to prove its existence and the Vanu even deny it."

"How lovely," Mighty muttered.

"Are we in any danger?" Sally asked concerned.

"Not at all," Carmichael replied attempting to alleviate their fears, "Other then the protests and the odd hostage situations it's remained peaceful."

"I'd be willing to hand over all tactical information on Robotnik," Sally said steering the subject away from the topic of terrorism.

"Uh...Sal. remember what happened that last time you did that?" Sonic warned.

"Explain," said the Prime Minister.

"When I handed over the data to your cousins in Station Square, they imputed it into their O.T.I.S. Defence Computer which in turn launched a Nuclear Strike against Robotnik's former capital of Robotropolis," explained the princess.

"...and you're worried that their might be a repeat. Though we have our own nuclear stockpile they are limited to only small tactical nukes and they can only be launched by Ghosts."

"Ghost?" Amy asked.

"Telepaths." The Prime Minister explained, "individuals who can read minds along with other powers. When we settled here, some of us began developing strange powers. Originally it was simply limited telekinesis, but as generations of Terrans were born their powers expanded and become more potent, they were eventually trained by the military for Black-Op missions. You've already met one such individual."

"Who?" Sonic asked.

"Princess Elise," Leon said having be silent for most of the conversation.

"WHOA! Wait, you mean that Elise is a telepath?" Sonic asked.

"Well...that's not the wrong type of classification, she's not a telepath she's actually a clairvoyant; someone who is able to witness events before they can happen. Believe me we would never allow our princess to be involved in that sort of thing."

"WOW!" Amy said struggling to even find words, "That's...wow."

"I have a question," Tails piped in after a moment of stunned silence, "how is it that your technology is so advanced? Even your cousins in the United Federation don't have technology as advance as what we saw in Soleanna."

"Ah! Now that's quite a tale. We have many brilliant minds here in the Terran Republic, but our technology is actually derived from advance Pre-Xorda War technology that our ancestors discovered housed within a large underground armoury," the Prime Minister explained, "Doran Routhe theorized that the armoury was actually one of the doomsday vaults that were built during the 21st century. In the event of some sort of worldwide apocalypse the survivors could open the vaults and retrieve what's inside in order to help rebuild society."

"So what type of weaponry was found inside and are their more vaults out there?" Sally asked.

"To answer your first question there was a large number of projectile-base weaponry inside as well as a small number of energy-base weaponry. But when we tried to develop our own energy-based weapons they were much too large to be wielded effortlessly and required far too much energy to be reliable. The technology was ultimately used for the ship based weaponry of our vehicles and aircraft. As for your second question we Terrans discovered two other vaults located here in Murasia but there are most likely other spread around the world, one was a so called "Ice Zoo" which contained various frozen animal embryos and eggs which we used for agricultural purposes. The other was an archive that held all of Humanity's collective history as well as a vast collection of literature, which you are more then welcome to take a look at in the estate's library."

"What's everyone's plans for today?" Miranda asked.

"I was gonna head into town and do a little shopping," Amy stated.

"Told you," Sonic whispered to Sally.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but today's a statutory holiday. Nothing's open today," Molly said, "At least not until tonight when the festival begins."

"What a relief," Sally whispered back to Sonic.

"I was going to head over to the airport to retrieve the Cyclone V2," Tails replied, "I'm still concerned that not everything was working properly."

"I thought you said that the flight from New Mobotropolis to Soleanna went well," Sally said concerned.

"It did, but it was only its maiden voyage and I never had the chance to test everything before we left," Tails explained.

"You'll need to reframe from flying within the city," Carmichael said, "At least until we get you an IFF Beacon. The last thing we want is for someone else getting arrested. I'll contact my Military Advisor and see if he can acquire one for you."

"I was thinking about entering the EX Grand Prix," Sonic commented.

"Well you certainly won't be disappointed," Molly said, "There'll be races going on all over Augustgrad for the next week. I can help you get signed up if you'd like."

"Sure," Sonic replied.

"What are you guys planning on doing?" Sally asked looking at Mighty and Ray.

"No idea," Mighty replied, "We might stick around here, but then again we might take a walk around town."

"I think I'll get a head start on that speech. I have to be ready," Sally said standing up, "thank you for the meal. It was lovely."

"Your very welcome, Princess," Carmichael said, "if the rest of you plan to attend the festival tonight you should probably be ready to leave at six this evening."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Rogues Return

Location: Beacon Hill, Central City

That evening...

* * *

Multicoloured fireworks shot into the air from a ship anchored out in the river that separated Beacon Hill and Jackson Heights from the City Center and the Harbour and lit up the night sky above Central City. The streets were packed with people as well as plenty of venders selling everything from souvenirs to food for the hungry partygoers while the Freedom Fighters (minus Tails who had remained behind at the Prime Minister's residence to give Sonic's Extreme Gear a much required tune-up before the big race) along with Molly and Leon wondered along the cobblestone streets.

"Wow! Just look at all these people," Amy said in surprise.

"It's like this every year," Molly explained, "People from all over the Terran Republic travel here to celebrate."

"All this food looks really good," Sonic commented as he stopped at one of the food stands that had a large chunk of meat that was rotating on a vertical spit.

"Try the Antigan Buffalo, it may not be good for you but it's delicious," Molly suggested.

"I was doing a little research to help me with my speech. I didn't realize that the Terran Republic is only a few decades old," Sally said to Molly.

"That's right. The Terran Republic was formed out of the Terran Confederacy," she explained as the others waited for Sonic to get his snack, "The Confederacy was founded approximately forty years after we arrived here by Doran Routhe. But life under the Confederacy wasn't exactly rosy."

"W-what do y-you mean?" Ray stuttered twisting his tail.

"When Doran Routhe created the Confederacy he gave his lieutenants aristocratic status within the government and their decedents are collectively known as the Old Families. They held more power then even the Confederate Senate. The system was so corrupt that the calls for reform just grew louder and louder."

"Well things obviously turned out alright...right?" Mighty asked, but realized by the look on Molly's face that they hadn't, "Oh..."

"The Old Families were desperate to hold on to the power that they believed was theirs by right and during a peaceful protest in New Canaan the Confederate Marine Corps were dispatched with orders to shoot on sight. It was called the New Canaan Massacre for a reason because it ended in a violent bloodbath that took the lives of a hundred and six people," Molly explained.

"Wow! Glad the reform back home ended as peacefully as it did," Amy said glancing at Sally.

"So what happened after that?" Sonic asked returning to the group with a Buffalo Kabob and a Gyro in hand.

"The massacre only succeeded in fanning the flames causing widespread unrest across the country. Things got better once Maxwell Routhe died. Don't get me wrong it's a terrible thought, but King Maxwell was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy. With his death his eleven-year-old son; Alphonse took the throne. Sure he was young and inexperienced, but he wasn't set in his ways like his father and once crowned he enacted Royal Protocol 1993 which allows the Royal Family to take control of the government during a time of crisis. He dissolved the Confederacy and reorganized it into the Terran Republic," Molly explained as the group began walking again.

"What can you tell us about these 'Old Families'," Mighty asked.

"As I said earlier they were the lieutenants of Doran Routhe given aristocratic status in the former government and were none too happy to lose the influence that they once wielded after the dissolution of the Confederacy. The most notable are the Tygores, Terras, Dukes, Calabas, d'Arbanvilles, and Kusinis. I'm not missing any obvious one am I?" She asked looking at her brother.

"Megnsk?" Leon replied.

"Naw, they're not nobility. They're just affluent enough that it makes no difference if they were," Molly said.

"Doesn't sound like you have a very high opinion of them," Sonic commented having devoured his meal.

"Neither does my father," she replied, "They believe themselves to be above the law and they use their influence to gain a monopoly over various businesses within the Confederacy and the Republic. That being said father does have a friendly relationship with Constantino Terra since they did attend school together along with the then Prince Edward Routhe and he does a lot the charity work."

The group reached the waterfront and found it packed with even more people. A large stage had been set up for the band was currently playing for the spectators.

"I hope Tails hurries," Sonic commented, "The race is gonna start soon."

"We still have time, just relax," Molly told Sonic.

"It's too bad your parents couldn't come," Sally said.

"Having knee surgery kinda hampers the enjoyment one can have," Molly commented.

The group stopped at a corner cafe and took a seat at a table on the patio as they listened to the music, although it was a tad too loud for her taste. Sally happened to glance over at Molly when she noticed the circular pendent around the young lady's neck with a five pointed star in the center.

"Is...is that a pentagram? Sally asked.

"Um...actually it's a pentacle," Molly said hesitating as she grabbed the pendent with a hand.

"Well it looks like the symbol of the Devil?" Sonic questioned.

"That's because she's a witch," Leon said aloud.

"Hey! That's no way to talk to you sister!" Amy shouted.

"No it's true, I'm a practitioner of Witchcraft, though we prefer to call it Wicca," Molly said, "and by the way Leon's not my brother, he's my step-brother."

"Oh," Amy said. "sorry."

"Is there a story behind this?" Mighty asked.

"I was fourteen...I was going through a Goth phase and it was one of those things that I found I fitted in with during my awkward teen years," Molly explained, "it's a lot better then some of the things that I could've gotten involved in."

Everyone turned their attention to the stage when the music suddenly stopped as a young woman stepped up to the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Can I have your attention please. The EX Grand Prix will begin in approximately five minutes, would all participants please make their way to the starting line."

"Gah! Where the hell are you Tails?" Sonic cried out.

"Relax!" Molly said, "I just got an text message from my dad, Tails just left a few minutes ago, he should be here any minute now."

"Sonic!" they heard Tails call out.

"Told ya," Molly said sarcastically.

The twin-tailed fox dropped down from one of the rooftops with Gill trailing behind him and trotted over to the hedgehog with his air board clutched in his arms.

"Sorry I'm late," Tails said trying to catch his breath.

"Well you're here, that's what matters," Sally said.

"You'd better head down to the starting line," Molly suggested to Sonic.

"Right, see you guys at the finish line," Sonic said as he took off.

"He's cocky that one," Molly said to Sally.

"He always was," Sally replied.

There was just too many people for Sonic too successfully navigate through the crowd of Terrans, Mobians, and Overlanders that were heading down to watch the race. But as he tried to weave his way through as best as he could as he drew closer to the starting line he was suddenly shoved from behind and knocked to the ground, his air board from his grasp.

"Alright what's the big idea," Sonic growled.

"You honestly think you can win with this outdated piece of junk?" a famine voice asked.

Sonic glanced up and noticed a purple Swallow standing with her back to him dressed in white bellbottoms, with a matching tube top and bandana that covered her head.

"I don't believe it," the hedgehog said with surprise as he climbed to his feet as two others emerged from the crowd.

"Sonic!" Tails cried out as he arrived on scene with Mighty in tow, but stopped dead when they noticed the very familiar figures that had surround the hedgehog.

"The Babylon Rogues? What are they doing here?" Mighty asked glancing at Tails.

"Long time no see, Sonic," Jet said stopping in front of him.

"Heh! And here I thought this little race wouldn't be a challenge," Sonic said snatching his air board from Wave.

"There's that ego again," Mighty said shaking his head, "What are you thieves doing in Augustgrad?"

"None of your business," Jet snapped, "C'mon Storm let's get to the starting line."

"Looks like things just got interesting," Sonic said with a smirk on his face as he looked at Tails and Mighty.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Race to win

Location: Central City

Evening...

* * *

The participants which consisted of Terrans, Overlanders, and several Mobians had gathered at the starting line and were now waiting for the word to be given for the race to begin. The path that had been plotted out by the Racing League would lead the racers along the outskirts of the Beacon Hill District, through Pigeon Park, along the bridge that connected to the City Center, and around that district's outskirts before returning to the starting line.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the preliminary round of the EX Grand Prix is brought to you by POW Energy Drink, for that extra boost of energy," the announcer said as he raised a starter's pistol into the air, "Contestants on your mark. Get set. GO!!!"

A single shot was fired into the air and the contestants darted forward on foot before jumping onto their Extreme Gear. Jet's reputation as being the Legendary Wind Master wasn't an exaggeration, he had already taken up the lead in the early seconds of the race with Storm watching his back from second place. Despite not being within the first ten spots Sonic was quickly gathering speed and passing the other racers. All he needed to do was place within the first five spots to earn his place in the semi-finals, but he wasn't one to settle for anything other then first place. The coarse had already taken them past the Prime Minister's Residence and they were currently racing along the road the cut through Pigeon Park as Sonic continued to climb the leader board. The opponent in front of the hedgehog swerved off the road and headed towards what appeared to be a green house located off to the side of road and smashed through the front window, making himself a shortcut that shaved seconds off the Overlander's time as he smashed through the other side. Sonic gritted his teeth as he poured on more speed that allowed him to pass the Overlander and net himself sixth place as the racers emerged from the park and headed across the bridge into the City Center. Sonic lowered himself down slightly, reducing the drag from the wind and giving himself a boost of speed that helped him overtake the two racers in front of him leaving only Storm between him and Jet. Sonic was closing the gap between him and Storm, but the big brute wasn't going to give up his position without a fight and he cut off the hedgehog every time he tried to slip pass. Sonic let out a growl and accelerated in an attempt to squeeze pass and gain second place but the albatross would have none of it as he took a swing at his head.

"Hey!?" Sonic cried out in surprise.

"There's no why I'm letting you through," Storm said as he tried to ram Sonic.

The Blue Blur saw the attack before it happen and decelerated just seconds before Storm slammed into the wall and was knocked clean off his Extreme Gear.

"See ya," Sonic mocked as he left the albatross behind.

Jet still had a sizable lead but Sonic was quickly closing that gap as they raced through the empty streets of the downtown core. The gap between them soon closed, but neither of they could get a far enough lead as they completed their race around the City Center and reached they reached the bridge and headed back over to Beacon Hill. Sonic pulled ahead on the straightaway that the bridge provided and put Sonic distance between himself and Jet causing the hawk to snarl in frustration as he yelled into the comm. link on his wrist.

"Wave!"

"I hear you, Jet," she replied, her voice just barely cracking through the speaker over the rushing wind.

"I will not lose to the likes of him," Jet shouted as Sonic crossed the bridge.

"Understood. I'll take care of it," Wave said.

Jet held his breath for several seconds as Sonic continued to pull further ahead when the hedgehog's air board was suddenly ripped apart by an explosion caused by an explosive device that Wave had attached when the hedgehog wasn't paying attention. Jet swerved out of the way in order to avoid a costly collision caused by the tumbled hedgehog and surged ahead as the other competitors passed the hedgehog, knowing that he was in no position to finish the race.

* * *

Location: Beacon Hill

Sometime later...

* * *

Sonic sat on a cot within the First-Aid station as he was tended to by an middle-aged raccoon dressed in medical scrubs.

"That was quite a wipe out," the doctor said, "I'm surprised that it wasn't worse."

"I'm a fast healer," Sonic commented as the doctor bandaged his arm.

"Sonic!" he heard Amy cry out as she entered the First-Aid station with the other's in tow.

"Hey guys," Sonic said.

"Are you alright?" Sally asked.

"I'm fine, Sal, it's my pride is that's a little worse for wear. I had that race in the bag."

"You're lucky that you've become more durable thanks to all those Power Rings you've absorbed," Mighty said with his arms crossed.

"How's my air board looking?" Sonic asked curious.

"Damaged beyond what I'm capable of fixing," Tails admitted, "what's left of it that is."

"All done," the doctor said as he finished bandaging Sonic's arm.

"Thanks doc," the hedgehog said.

"My pleasure," the Raccoon said as he limped away to tend to his other patients.

"So what now?" Sonic asked looking at Molly.

"There's two more days of preliminary races before the semi-finals," Molly explained, "IThat is if you still continue your participation."

"Heck ya," the hedgehog replied.

"Then I'd suggest we hit the Gear Shop tomorrow and see about getting you a new board," the female Terran continued, "In the mean time the night is young and so are we. I say we enjoy it."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Prospecting

Location: Egg Carrier

Early the next day...

* * *

Lien-Da; Kommissar of the Dark Egg Legion strolled through the halls of the Egg Carrier towards the reactor chamber where Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik had sequestered himself after discovering that his latest war ship had sustained far more damage then he had initially thought. All of the ship's non-critical systems were currently offline and the ship itself was currently running off emergency power until the egg-shaped dictator could facilitate the necessary repairs. Despite the lack of lighting the echidna could see the silhouette of a pair Guard Robos that were standing outside a large, circular steel doors that led into the reactor core. The Guard Robos were designed after E-102 Gamma; the doctor's most successful E-Series Unit. But they were lacking the arm canon and were a dull steel gray colour. Lien-Da passed them by as the door slid open allowing her entry into the core room where the impressive E-01 Reactor was located. The reactor massive size took up most of the chamber, it had to in order to provide power to a ship the size of the Egg Carrier.

"GAH! Worthless pile of scrap!" she heard Eggman shout from somewhere in the chamber.

"Problem doctor?" Lien-Da teased as Robotnik's hover platform suddenly came into view.

"That's an incredible understatement," Eggman snarled at her, "Those blasted Terran weaponry damaged my prototype E-1 Reactor and its leaked all its fuel as a result. I've managed to find a suitable replacement fuel source, but I'll need you and the rest of the Dark Egg Legion to acquire it."

"You want us to steal fuel?" Lien-Da asked surprised, "Don't you have robots designed for such tasks?"

"Had. Enerjak saw to that when he decimated ninety percent of my ground forces," Eggman said.

"What fuel source do you want us to acquire?" the Kommissar asked with a sigh, resenting the fact that the legion was being used for such a lowly task.

"Despite the limited access I had I still managed to learn some useful information from the Terran's computer network," Robtnik stated, "I discovered that the Terrans rely on an abundant fuel source called Vespene. I've never heard of it, which is most likely because Murasia is the only region on Mobius where it can be found," Eggman explained, "I want you and the rest of the DEL to head to one of the refineries and start siphoning off their supply while I retrofit the reactor."

"What about the Terrans? Aren't they still hunting us?"

"From what I can gather they've apparently given up the chase," Eggman replied, "Which is good for us, but if it'll make you feel any better I'll send some Guard Robos with you."

"You're kidding right?" Lien-Da asked, "The Dark Legion's Mechanauts were far superior compared to those Gamma knockoffs."

"Well excuse me!" Eggman snapped, "I can't exactly deploy my Egg Gunners with you since they're still in the testing phase. The Guard Robos on the other had are designed for a variety of tasks and are more suited for one such as this."

"Don't you have other units that you could use?" the echidna asked.

"I'm seriously considering deploying my pre E-100 Series Units just to build up my ground forces," Eggman said, "but they're in storage at my Techno Base. You'll just have to make do with what you have."

Lien-Da departed the chamber seething in rage at the fact she was being forced to do grunt work like the rest of the Legion, despite being second-in-command of the DEL. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that this was Eggman's way of punishing her for allowing the hedgehog to escape with Princess Elise.

"Gae-Na?" she asked into her comm. link.

"Yes Kommissar?" replied the voice of her second-in-command.

"Rally the troops and meet me in the hanger bay in thirty."

* * *

Location: Murasia

Ninety minutes later...

* * *

The members of the Dark Egg Legion sat quietly within the darkened hover unit as it passed over the jungle foliage until the landscape changed to that of a volcanic region. The hover unit descended and landed on a structure that appeared to be some sort of landing platform that over looked over a rushing river of boiling rock as the legionnaires disembarked along with several Guard Robos. Lien-Da scanned the area and her attention was immediately drawn to a large domed building that appeared to be some sort of command center that would certainly come in handy and maybe contain data that would get her back on Eggman's good side. There was also several supply depots scattered about the area along with a couple of inactive refineries that they would have to get back online before they could begin mining for the fuel that the doctor required. Lien-Da turned to a red furred female legionnaire with a right green eye and a cybernetic left eye dressed in black with a piece of cloth that dangled between her legs.

"Gae-Na, see if can't get these buildings back online," she suggested, "and download any data you can find in the systems."

"Understood Kommissar," she replied as she turned and headed off towards the command center.

Lien-Da had to admit that she was surprised that the Terrans had simply abandoned the area. One would think that they would be extremely protective of their natural resources, but there were no Terrans to be seen and the buildings looked like they hadn't seen any activity in a rather long time.

"What are your orders Kommissar?" one legionnaire asked approaching her.

"We can't proceed until we get power back online to these buildings," she replied.

"I just hope Gae-Na hurries," the legionnaire said, "I don't like being out in the open like this."

"Neither do I, Radar," Lien-Da said, "But we've been given a task to complete and the sooner we get it done the fast we can be rid of this place."

"Kommissar!" Gae-Na's voice cracked through the comm. link.

"Go ahead."

"Systems are back online. Power should be returning momentarily," her second-in-command reported.

As if on cue the sound of churning machinery could be heard coming from the refineries as puffs of green smoke were released into the air from the smoke stacks.

"Alright Dark Egg Legion! Let's gets get this job done and over with," Lien-Da said.

The echidnas spread out in groups with two Guard Robos to accompany them and each picked a refinery to work on while Lien-Da watched on from the landing pad. The process was slow going at first, but soon the first of the Guard Robos emerged from the refineries carrying a drum of the precious fuel and deposited it on board the hover unit and things quickly started picking up. They were on track to completing their mission within a half an hour when an alarm sounded and a voice came over the facilities PA system.

"Alert: Lava surge imminent. Evacuate low ground immediately!"

"Gae-Na, what's going on?" Lien-Da demanded.

"Tectonic activity, Kommissar," Gae-Na explained, "this area appears to be volcanically unstable."

"That would explain why the Terrans abandoned this area. No doubt Eggman already knew about this before he sent us here," Lien-Da snarled, "Everyone to higher ground. NOW!"

The legionnaires abandoned all that they were doing and scrambled to reach safety as geysers of liquid rock shot into the air and rained down on the hapless echidnas as magma suddenly spilled over and flooded the area. Lien-Da could only watch helplessly as two of her fellow legionnaires were lost along with three Guard Robos plus the fuel that they had been transporting.

"This is madness," Radar yelled at her through the comm. link.

"Where are you, Radar?" Lien-Da asked.

"Stuck at one of the refineries with my team. I can see Syntar's group from where I am," he replied.

"Gae-Na, how long is this going to last?"

"Tectonic activity is beginning to subside, Kommissar," she replied, "The computer system will notify you."

"Good. We're all cut off out here."

The magma slowly receded leaving a fiery carpet of quickly cooling rock, but none of the echidnas were prepared to cross their way back to the landing platform.

"All Clear: It is now safe to proceed with mining operations!"

"Everybody finish up what you're doing and rendezvous with me at the landing platform, we're pulling out," Lien-Da said into her comm. link.

Lien-Da watched as the other members of the DEL gathered up a few more barrels of fuel and loaded them aboard the hover unit when Gae-Na approached and handed over a data disk to her.

"Many apologies, Kommissar. But I was unable to gather much information from the data banks," Gae-Na said, "That command center is not connected to the Terran Data Network. Despite that I was able to gather tactical data on the Terrans weapons systems."

"Excellent work," Lien-Da said as her fellow echidnas piled into the hover unit.

"Do you think we have enough fuel?" Syntar asked approaching.

"Don't know, don't care," Lien-Da snarled, "If Eggman wants more fuel then he can get it himself."

The Kommissar was waiting for the Guard Robos to board the ship when a pair of Terran Dropships appeared and deposited eight marines decked out in green CMC-400 Powered Combat Suit and wielding deadly Gauss rifles.

"KEL-MORIAN COMBINE! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" shouted one of the marines as they fire on the fleeing echidnas.

"GUARD ROBOS! HOLD THEM OFF!" Lien-Da shouted as she boarded the hover unit.

The remaining Guard Robos took up defensive positions, their arms transforming into a pair of deadly blaster cannons as they fired searing energy at the Terrans as the hover unit took to the sky and fled the scene. Even though the energy fired off by the Guard Robos were extremely dangerous, the 8 mm. armour-piercing metal spikes fired by the marines rifles proved to superior compared to the Guard Robos armour plating.

* * *

Location: Central City

Evening...

* * *

Sonic, Tails, and Molly stood within one of the prestigious Extreme Gear shop in Central City and the hedgehog was amazed that Extreme Gear wasn't just limited to just boards, but also skates, bikes, yachts, and many others.

"WOW! Look at em all," Sonic said as he browsed through the air board section of the store.

"If there are so many different types of Extreme Gear why is it that we only saw air board at the Prix?" Tails asked Molly.

"Mostly because the Racing League hasn't made a decision on whether or not they would give the competitors an unfair advantage," Molly replied, "To which the Vauhti Corporation; the main Extreme Gear manufacturer vehemently denies."

"I like this one," Sonic said pulling one board from the display rack.

The board was blue and silver with green trim that ran along the bottom of its sleek curves.

"Ah! The Blue Star mk. II," Molly said, "Nice chose, but you might want to check the price tag."

"Four thousand credits!!!" Sonic cried out upon looking at the price, "There's no way I can afford this."

"I'd use my gift card to help you pay for it," Tails said, "But combined that would only cover twelve hundred credits."

"It would take all our gift cards including Ant's and Bunnie's to cover the cost and it doesn't feel right to do that to the others," Sonic said.

"And Amy probably already has hers spent," Tails commented, "which means that that would only cover thirty-six hundred credits."

"I'd help, but I don't have that type of bank to throw around," Molly said, "Your only other option is to find someone willing to sponsor you in the race."

"Let's face it, no one will sponsor me since I'm too unknown," Sonic said returning the board to the shelf, "Let's just go home."

As the trio departed the store a young lady emerged from the bike gear aisle. She had blue hair that partially covered a pair bulky white earpieces with matching pupil-less eyes. She was dressed in a blue hooded sweatshirt with a pocket in the front and a gold collar around her neck, a pair of black shorts with white leggings and bulky metallic blue shoes with a gold band around the ankles. The young lady pressed a button on one of her bulky gold wristbands and then tapped her earpiece.

"Did you get all of that master?" she asked.

"I did. Good work, Leviathan," the voice said, "Let's give the hedgehog a had shall we?"

"Understood. I'll see to it that it gets delivered tomorrow."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Second Chances

Location: Prime Minister's Office

Just before dawn...

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Carmichael said cursing at the data file he had received courtesy of his private AI; Freyja, "are you one hundred percent certain?"

He glanced over at the shimmering image of General Mah Sakai; head of the Kel-Morian Combine who was standing before him. The Kel-Morian Combine was a private military company that was formed out of the Kelanis Guild and the Morian Mining Coalition and whose duty was to provide security to all the various mining operations within the Terran Republic. Unfortunately it would seem that they had recently failed in that responsibility when Dr. Eggman stole several barrels of Vespene fuel and potentially sensitive data.

"The Freedom Fighters will no doubt confirm what our findings are already telling us," General Sakai said.

"Who previously claimed ownership of that area?" Carmichael asked.

"The Burning Rift was previously controlled by the Vergrabenen Erz Mining Company," another voice answered.

The Prime Minister glanced over to the wall where the image of a man with light coloured hair that hung in his face, piercing eyes, and a hint of five o' clock shadow was projected onto the wall panel screen. Carmichael had almost completely forgotten that Corbin Phash was in on this conversation after all he was his Minister of Natural Resources.

"You're sure, Corbin?"

"I'm looking at the file right now," he replied, "I can have their prospecting licence revoked for failing to dismantle their mining sites."

"What about Cauley?" Sakai asked, "I can see he's conspicuously absent from this meeting."

"I have been unable to reach the Minister of Defence ," Freyja's disembodied voice explained, "Either at his residence or on his cell phone."

"Why am I not surprised," Corbin said shaking his head, " Tamsen's been keeping a low profile ever since the Soleanna Incident."

"That's no excuse," Carmichael said angrily, "He knows it's me. What about the data that was stolen?"

"We have no way of knowing that any data was actually stolen," the general said, "we are simply treating it as such to be on the safe side."

"Freyja, contact the Ministry of Public Safety and have them raise the alert level to orange," Carmichael ordered, "and get me a secure line to HIGHCOM, I wanna talk to DuGalle."

"I'll send you an update on the situation when I have more to report," Sakai promised as he cut the transmission.

"I should go as well," Corbin said, "I promised Colin that I would take him to Splash Canyon before we leave Tyrador. Talk to you later, Victor."

As the image of Corbin faded away the Prime Minister was left alone within his office, shaking his head at the situation that had unfolded when a woman with long golden hair and dressed in white appeared before him in a flash of light.

"I am unable to contact Admiral DuGalle," Freyja reported, "Vice-Admiral Stukov is available however."

"Patch him through," the Prime Minister said with a sigh, knowing full well that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep that day.

* * *

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

Morning...

* * *

The Freedom Fighters entered the dining room and found that a cornucopia of breakfast items had been prepared for them by the staff, but the was absent of any people.

"Wonder where everybody is?" Sonic asked looking at Sally.

"Donno," Sally replied, "Guess we'll be eating by ourselves today."

"Everybody's just busy," Leon explained appearing behind the group, "Mom had to leave for some fundraiser thing, Molly had to go to work, and Dad's been up since the crack of dawn."

The boy was still dressed in a pair of light blue pajamas with a button-up top, while his hair was a complete and utter mess having not yet been combed as he took a seat at the table with the others before filling his plate.

"How do you know that your step-father's been up all night?" Amy asked.

"Cause my bedroom is right next to his office and he's not as quite as he thinks," Leon replied with a yawn, "It sounded really serious."

"How serious?" Sally asked worried.

"Well...they were talking about Eggman," Leon explained as he chowed down on a waffle covered in syrup and cinnamon, "I know he was talking to more then just one person. But I could really make out what they were saying."

"We were talking about Eggman siphoning off our fuel supply," Carmichael said appearing in the doorway.

"He did what!?" the Mobians cried out in shock.

"If I show you a video would you be able to confirm that it was him?" the Prime Minister asked.

"I suppose," Sally said.

"Freyja, run file," Carmichael ordered.

A holographic screen appeared over the table showing members of the Dark Egg Legion and several robots who were busily moving a number of barrels on board a waiting transport, while an echidna looked on.

"That's Lien-Da," Sonic commented dryly upon recognizing the figure.

"What were they stealing?" Sally asked.

"Vespene fuel," Carmichael answered, "it's an environmentally friendly, naturally occurring energy source that we use. When Eggman's allies reactivated the equipment at the mining site they were caught on camera and the Kel-Morian Combine was alerted."

"Why would Eggman steal fuel?" Mighty asked.

"A ship the size of the Egg Carrier's gotta run off something," Sonic said.

"Eggman usually has his own power supply," Tails said, "but seeing the amount of firepower those battlecruisers were unleashing may have damaged the Egg Carrier in such a way that the reactor no longer works."

"Did they steal anything else?" Sally asked concerned.

"Military data that's ten years out of date," Carmichael replied, "Most of our military technology is currently in the process of being phased out."

"Still seems like a major breach of security," Tails commented.

"It also doesn't help that my Defence Minister went behind not only my back but also the Supreme Commander of the military's when he had the hunt for Dr. Eggman called off," Carmichael said, "and now he's not returning any of my calls."

"Sounds like you've got your own problems," Amy said.

"Excuse me," one of the servants said entering the room with a box in his arms, "But I have a package that just arrived for Mr. Sonic."

"ME!?" Sonic asked surprised as he climbed out of his seat.

The box was wrapped in brown paper, tied with a red ribbon, and had a small card attached to it as the hedgehog took it from the package and removed the card to read it.

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE RACE.

THE SCHOLARLY ONE.

The eyebrow above Sonic's right eye arched as he tossed aside the card and quickly ripped at the paper revealing the packaging of the Blue Star Mk. II underneath.

"Sweet! Looks like someone must've been paying attention," Sonic said.

The servant cleared his throat and Sonic glanced at him before glancing at the paper that now littered the floor.

"Oh...um, I'll clean that up," Sonic said scratching the back of his head.

"Your Military Advisor has also arrived Prime Minister, he's waiting in the foyer," the servant continued.

"Send him in, Timothy," Carmichael ordered.

Several minutes later a man in his late forties to early fifties with stern features that spoke of the authority that he commanded, with short black hair and neatly trimmed sideburns that reached his jawbone entered the room dressed in a green military uniform.

"Morning Vasillj," Victor said, "Everyone this is General Vasillj Tatarin, my Military Advisor."

"Good morning," he said with an accent, "I have that IFF Beacon that you requested."

"Awsome!" Tails said climbing out of his seat, "I've been wanting to take a bird's eye-view of Augustgrad."

"Well now that I've gotta new board I've got a race to get to. You coming, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Sure. Just let me install the IFF in the Cyclone and I'll be good to go," Tails replied.

"Can I come?" Leon asked.

"Sure. Meet you outside," Sonic said as he and Tails departed from the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Back in the Game

Location: Mar Sara Province

Sometime later...

* * *

The view of Central City from the air was definitely a sight to behold and the Cyclone V2 was running perfectly as Tails sat behind the controls of the vehicle with Gill next to him as they sailed over the trees towards the site of the final qualifying round of the EX Grand Prix. Leon was seated in the back dressed in gray sweat pants and a white T-shirt as he glanced around in awe at the forested countryside below. They soon arrived in Graschek; a small town of only a thousand people that was just a stone's throw away from the capital. Tails transformed the machine into its walker-mode and hit the jets allowing them to land between a pair of buildings without a sound.

"You really built this all by yourself?" Leon asked.

"Yep," the fox replied, "I would have never gotten into mechanics if it wasn't for my friend Rotor back home."

Tails pushed forward on the controls and the vehicle began to move out of the alleyway and into the streets where they met up with Sonic.

"Are you sure it was a smart idea to bring the Cyclone, Tails?" Sonic asked noticing that they were being looked at with disdain by the other Terrans, Overlanders, and even their fellow Mobians.

"Yeah, I don't think that anyone's particularly pleased that we're taking up space on the sidewalk," Leon commented.

"Too late now," Tails admitted.

"Think you'll win?" Leon asked as he suddenly began gasping.  
"Are you kidding? I've got this race in the bag," Sonic replied, "Say, are you alright?"

Leon nodding as he fumbled around in his pocket for something before finally producing an inhaler, which he immediately put to good use.

"What was that about?" Tails asked after several minutes had passed.

"I have Asthma," Leon explained, "Sometimes I just can't breathe."

"Do you need to go to the First-aid station?" Sonic asked concerned.

"Naw, I'm okay now," Leon replied, "It just sucks because I can't play soccer since my mom says it'll just aggravate my condition."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WOULD THE COMPETITORS FOR THE EX GRAND PRIX PLEASE REPORT TO THE STARTING LINE!" A voice echoed over the PA System.

"That's my cue. See ya at the finish line," Sonic said as he departed with the Blue Star in hand.

Racers from every walk of life made their way to the starting line and Sonic took his place next to Wave the Swallow who looked as if she was about to have an aneurism when she saw him. The look on her face was all he need to confirm what Tails had suspected; that the Babylon Rogues had sabotaged his Extreme Gear in the hopes of getting him out of the way.

"I shouldn't be surprised that Jet would stoop so low," Sonic said, "FYI; there won't be a repeat of last time."

The swallow looked away and focused on the race at hand as a voice came over the PA.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THIS IS THE FINAL QUALIFYING ROUND OF THE EX GRAND PRIX. ALL CONTESTANTS ON YOUR MARK...GET SET...GO!!!"

The racers shot forward and headed east out of Graschek towards the town of Anthem with Sonic quickly bypassing the other racers until he reached eighth place. Sonic had almost immediately noticed a difference at how his new Extreme Gear handled and it was definitely an improvement over the one that Tails had built, not that it hadn't served its purpose. Even as the hedgehog poured on the speed he was none too thrilled at the prospect of returning to the town where he had been wrongfully arrested, but this was the last chance he had at progressing to the semi-finals and he wasn't about to give up. Sonic reached eighth place which would guarantee him a spot in the semi-finals as long as he held his position, but he was aiming for top spot. They raced through the main street of Anthem and were on their way east as Sonic moved up to fifth place and tying with Wave. They were neck and neck for several minutes but Sonic eventually passed her as they reached the outskirts of the town of Boral, a town that was plain and as non-descript and easily forgotten as they made their way through the forested countryside towards Los Andreas. Sonic could see the glittering steel of Night Babylon across the water in the Rio Del Santos Province from the main road that would take him and the racers through Los Andreas, but he focused his attention on gaining more speed as he cut off two of his competitors and settling into third place. Los Andreas was a small coastal community that overlooked a small lagoon, with nearly five thousand residents it was the liveliest town that the competitors had travelled through with spectators watching the race from the sidewalk and even from rooftops. Sonic weaved through the streets and began closing the gap between himself and the Overlander who was currently in second place. As they emerged from the town the hedgehog lined his Extreme Gear behind his opponent and began drifting using his own momentum to overtake the Overlander and snag second place. They were in the final stretch of the race and Sonic was giving it all he had in order to close that gap that was between him and first place. Kilometre by kilometre Sonic closed the rift and was right on top of his opponent as they reached the outskirts of Graschek, but was struggling just to squeeze past the female Terran. The hedgehog began to drift behind her gaining some momentum that allowed him to slip past and take first place as they reached the finish line. Sonic leapt of the Blue Star and skidded to a stop, allowing the cheers from the crowd to fill his ears.

"Piece...of...cake," Sonic said smugly as he shouldered his Extreme Gear.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Meet and Greet

Location: Central City

Evening, the next day...

* * *

The Mobians along with the Prime Minister and his family stepped out of the limousine into a large crowd of photographers and journalists that had been waiting for them on the steps of the Central City Museum. One year earlier the museum had suffered severe structural damage by a fire that ripped through the building, fortunately no one had been hurt and none of the artifacts had been destroyed in the blaze. Tonight a dinner was being held to celebrate the grand reopening and anyone who was anyone was going to be there, which was why the Prime Minister had invited them to be a part of it. It was a black tie affair so everyone was required to be properly attired in order to attend. The building had been rebuilt to resemble the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg, France and it certainly stood out from the rest of Beacon Hill.

"Ulgh! Paparazzi," Amy complained when she was blinded by the flashing cameras as she stood in her shimmering red gown.

"They're just here for Sonic," Mighty joked as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his dinner jacket, "He's famous after all."

"I think we're all famous, Mighty," Sally said as she walked towards the entrance of the museum in her purple cocktail dress, "Hopefully they've forgotten about Sonic's drug arrest from earlier."

"Huh?" Sonic asked upon hearing his name.

"Are you alright, Sonic," Tails asked.

"Yeah, I'm just bummed out that I didn't rank better in the semi-finals," the hedgehog replied.

"What are you talking about?" Sally asked, "You placed third this afternoon."

"Yeah, but yesterday I placed first. I know I could've done better."

"Don't let it get to you," Molly stated as she walked past them in her black backless dress, "you've earned your place in the finals, that's nothing to be disappointed about."

The group passing the privately hired security and headed inside where they found numerous other Terrans and Overlanders standing in the cavernous entranceway making cheap talk and sipping cocktails before dinner.

"D-doesn't look b-big outside," Ray stuttered as he stood next to Leon.

"Yeah, the exterior of the building is really deceptive," Tails remarked.

"Prime Minister, why did you ask that we come?" Sally questioned.

"I figured that it was better then just sitting around the house," Carmichael replied.

"I was on the committee along with Valerian Mengsk that helped raise funds for the reconstruction," Miranda explained.

"Wait! Wasn't he the one who opened that hospital?" Tails asked.

"Very good," Carmichael said, "He's the only child of Arcturus Mengsk; my Finance Minister."

"Valerian does a lot of charity work and he's a budding archaeologist," Miranda explained, "this was something that he took a great deal of interest in."

The group as greeted by a middle-aged man of Asian ancestry with greying black hair and dressed in a suit just like all the other male guests.

"Greetings. My name is Doctor Charles Atsumi and I am the curator of the museum. I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to be here tonight," the man said.

"Hello Dr. Atsumi," Miranda said, "It's good to see that the funds that were raised were put to good use."

"I have you, Constantino Terra, and young Mengsk to thank," he replied, "the rebuilding would've never gotten off the ground without you."

"Doctor," Prime Minister Carmichael said, "Allow me to introduce you to Ambassador Sally Acorn and her companions."

"It's a pleasure to be here tonight," Sally said shaking the man's hand.

"The pleasure is mine," Dr. Atsumi said with a smile, "Drinks are available and dinner will be served in the Pantheon within the hour. Please excuse me, I have other guest that I must greet."

"Let's go to the Pantheon now," Carmichael suggested once Dr. Atsumi was out of ear shot, "my knee is beginning to bother me."

The group soon reached the Pantheon which was little more then a wide open area where numerous tables had been set up for the guests.

"Man I'm bored," Sonic complained to Sally as they followed the Prime Minister through the crowd of people.

"We haven't been here five minutes," Sally said.

"You should just enjoy the evening," Amy stated.

"Yeah," Sonic muttered.

There was a large group of people in one area of the Pantheon and Sonic briefly caught a glimpse of a large man with short, but thinning gray hair who was dressed in military attire who radiated authority. He had an impressive physique, but he gave Sonic the impression that he was nothing more then a shaved gorilla that was posing as a man.

"Who's he?" Sonic asked Molly.

"General Edmund Duke, member of the Old Families and Commander of Alpha Squadron," replied the young Terran, "Never thought he was the type to enjoy museums."

"He looks kinda intimidating," Mighty said as the Prime Minister took a seat at one of the tables.

"He's always had that problem," Miranda explained, "people respect him mostly out of fear."

"Honestly, you'd think they would've dealt with the vermin when they rebuilt this place," a voice said loud enough for everyone to her.

The Mobians turned to see a gnarled old woman floating through the room in a hoverchair with an entourage by her side.

"Who's the big mouth?" Sonic asked.

"Oh god it Andrea Tygore; Matriarch of the Tygore Family," The Prime Minister replied, "Please let her break her hip, please let her break her hip."

"Sweetie, she's a hundred and fifty years old and paralyzed from the waist down," Miranda said, "Oh dear god she's coming this way."

"It's kinda ironic that she's in a museum, she must be visiting the other relics," Molly said bitterly.

"Shouldn't you respect your elders?" Amy asked.

"Considering the type of person she is...no," Carmichael said, "Andrea! Lovely to see you as always."

"Drop the act, Carmichael. You don't like me and I don't like you," she said rudely.

"Very well...what made you climb out of the tar pit this evening? Looking to bribe a building inspector perhaps?"

"Yes because you stand on such a moral high ground," she said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tygore. I am Sally Acorn; Princess of the Acorn Republic," Sally introduced.

"Ew...get away, you're probably infested with fleas," she said leaving all the Mobians in utter shock, "Why your kind was allowed within our territory I will never know."

"Now wait just on second!" Sally said.

"Andrea! What a lovely surprise," A voice called out.

Those gathered turned to see three figures strolling through the dining hall. One was a blonde haired middle-aged man with a bushy moustache and wearing a dark blue suit, the other was a young woman with long blonde hair that was braded into ponytail, with vivid green eyes and dressed in a red gown that shimmered like countless rubies. The third figure was a young man that was the living definition of a pretty-boy, with short blonde hair, grey eyes and dressed in an outfit that was both regal and yet militaristic at the same time, with a red cape that flowed behind him.

"Constantino. Good to see you," Andrea said.

"Do you have a moment?" Constantino asked, "There something that I'd like to ask you."

There was a sigh of relief as Andrea hovered away with Constantino in tow before Sally finally spoke.

"I hate her."

"She just likes winding people up, Don't let her get to you," the younger man said before introducing himself, "Valerian Mengsk."

"Hello Uncle Victor," the woman said kissing the Prime Minister's cheek.

"Hello Nova, I'm surprised to see you here," Carmichael said.

"When I heard that the museum was reopening I begged father to bring me," Nova replied.

"I heard that you were inducted into the-" Miranda said before Nova raised her hand to cut her off.

"Please...I'd rather we not talk about it," Nova said.

"It's seems that your father once again saved my ass," Victor said.

"He knows how much you don't get along with her," Nova stated.

There was the sound of a fork being tapped against a wine glass near a microphone causing everyone to focus their attention on Doctor Atsumi who was addressing the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen. May I have you attention please."

* * *

Location: Central City Museum

Later that night...

* * *

Sally stood outside one of the exits breathing in the refresh night air while she consumed her third Mojito of the evening. After her encounter with Andrea Tygore she had tried not to let the old Terran get to her but that was easier said then done. Sally stared out into the busy street and noticed an oddly dressed figure walking towards her, but as she drew closer she realized that he had clothing that was similar to that of the intruder that had shown up in New Mobotropolis, but there was significant differences. He had spiky light green hair that hung over his right eye, with bright green eyes, h. He wore a green vest, with a matching drape that hung around his waist, white pants, and green and white shoes.

"Princess Sally," he said.

She recognized the voice, but for the life of her she couldn't remember where she had heard it before.

"The master is please that you arrived safely," he said, "He would like to meet with you at a later date. He'll have further orders later."

"Yo Sal!" Sonic called out causing her to turn to see him standing in the doorway.

"We're leaving," Sonic said, "Leon crashed and Ray doesn't look like he'll make it much longer either."

"I'll be right there," Sally said as she turned back to the man only to find that he had disappeared into the night.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Need to Speed

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

Afternoon...

* * *

"It's too bad I didn't get speak to Valerian more, but it's good to know that his grandfather is doing well," Carmichael said as he sat in his office across from Princess Sally.

"I can't believe I drank. I've never drank in my entire life," Sally said.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Andrea Tygore can drive anyone to alcoholism."

"But it's so unlike me," Sally said, "And she's so infuriating."

"Andrea is set in her ways," Carmichael explained, "being a hundred and fifty years old makes her one of the oldest Terrans alive. She was born during the twilight years of the Confederacy and never supported King Alphonse's political reform that turned the Confederacy into a Republic. She's just a resentfully old woman."

"Do you think she's dangerous?" Sally asked.

"There's no fear when you expect to be betrayed," the Prime Minister said shaking his head.

"So you think she'll stab you in the back," Sally said.

"I'd be more surprised if she didn't. She already tried to blackmail me," Carmichael explained.

"She what!"

"I grew up in Hudderstown; a backwater town in the Agria region of Halcyon. It was the type of town where the only place that you could find entertainment was in a neighbouring town. You can imagine how fun that was for a farm boy like me and it was no wonder that me and my younger brother ended up in a gang. I was eleven and Adair was seven when we joined the Aasfresser as bagmen for the various protection rackets over in the town of Fruchtbar. Adair eventually got out, but I stayed thinking that he was a coward and moved on to the more serious crime. One night when I was thirteen I was stealing motorcycles when the cops showed up, I led them on a chase through the countryside and crashed. When I woke up in hospital and found that I had been in a coma for three weeks, spent my fourteenth birthday there. I also learned that I had nearly lost my leg in the crash," Carmichael explained.

"So that's how you ended up crippled," Sally said.

"Yeah. Soon after the cops showed up and arrested me. Eventually I was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention," Carmichael explained, "I had a lot of time to think about what did and by the time I was released I worked towards becoming a productive member of society. Of course when I became Prime Minister, Andrea Tygore somehow got a hold of my criminal record and thought that she could use it to blackmail me into service."

"And she was just allowed to get away with that?" Sally asked.

"She's nobility. One of her own family members, Emmett killed two kids in the Gutter District of Torsonis and the worst he got was sent away to a rehabilitation facility in Halcyon."

"Wow...that's kinda messed up," Sally commented.

"That it is. Anyways I went public about my past and that pretty much killed any chance of her controlling me."

"Prime Minister?" an unseen voice asked.

" Yes Freyja? What is it?" Carmichael asked.

"You requested that I inform you when the finals of the EX Grand Prix was about to begin," the AI replied.

"Ah yes, thank you," the Prime Minister said, "Think Sonic'll win?"

"He wouldn't settle for anything other then first place," Sally replied.

* * *

Location: Central City

That same time...

* * *

The starting place for the EX Grand Prix would be taking place within the narrow streets of Coal Harbour; a major shipping port made up of numerous factories, warehouses, and docks. Jet, Wave, and Storm were already waiting at the starting line with four other contestants who had earned their spots in the finals when the hedgehog finally arrived and took his place.

"Okay," Sonic said to himself, "Jet and Storm are going to be a major problem, Wave and everyone else on the other hand are going to be a breeze to beat so I should be able to get into third place with little effort."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THE FINAL ROUND OF THE EX GRAND PRIX IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY STARRY LACE'S DEBUT ALBUM - ETERNITY IN STORES NEXT TUESDAY AND BY IRON TONIC; THE FORTIFYING BEVERAGE."

The eight finalists readied themselves at the starting line and waited for the signal, but waiting wasn't Sonic's style and he was steadily growing more irritated when the shot from the starter pistol echoed against the buildings as the contestants took off. Sonic hurled the metallic suitcase-like object into the air and raced forward as it unfolded into the Blue Star and the blue hedgehog hopped aboard and took off. Within a span of sixty seconds Sonic had already managed to bypass Wave and the other racers and was currently tailing Storm. Sonic tried to slip past Storm, but the narrow streets made it difficult as the albatross attempted to slam him into the side of a warehouse forcing the hedgehog to decelerated as Storm slammed into the building and wiped out giving Sonic a sense of déjà vu. The hedgehog risked looking over his shoulder and watched as Storm collided with Wave, causing the two to nearly cause a pileup and forcing the other racers to swerve in order to avoid them. Sonic snickered and dropped into a low crouch as he began picking up speed, closing the gap between him and Jet. The hedgehog was on his tail and Jet's growing frustration causing him to take drastic measures to be rid of Sonic and swerved to the side, removing a thin piece of metal from his glove and flicked it open revealing that it was a metal fan and quickly slashed at the ropes of a flatbed that was parked off to the side of the road and causing it to spill its entire load of metal piping into the hedgehog's path. Sonic had a split second to react and leapt off the Blue Star and planted his feet against the wall of a nearby building before rebounding off and over the obstruction and landed back on his Extreme Gear on the other side.

"No no no!" Jet said panicking as Sonic pulled up next to him.

"This is it Jet, you and me," Sonic said over the rushing wind.

Jet and Sonic were currently neck and neck and the hawk gritted his teeth and poured on as much speed as he possibly could but he simply could overtake the hedgehog and the hedgehog was unable to overtake him even as they drew closer and closer to the finish line.

"I WON'T LOSE!" Jet screamed.

"I WON'T EITHER!" Sonic shouted back.

Jet took a swing at Sonic's head, but the hedgehog blocked it with his left arm and retaliated by trying to knock the hawk's feet out from under him with a leg sweep, but he gap between them was too wide. The Mobians tried to ram each other off the track, their boards connecting with the painful sound of metal scraping on metal filling as the pair crossed the finish line.

"Oh Sonic!" Amy cried out as she threw herself at the hedgehog.

"Aaammyyy!" said embarrassed as others arrived.

"Way to go Sonic," Tails congratulate.

"Tying for first place isn't bad," Mighty said slapping the hedgehog on the back.

"Yeah...I suppose it is," Sonic said with a grin.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Political

Location: Central City

Two days later...

* * *

Sally stood in front of the mirror dressed in a black suit which consisted of a short skirt, a white blouse, a black jacket and a pair of black high-heels that finished off the onsomble. She hated having to wear high-heels, but due to the fact that she would speaking in front of the elected members of the United Assembly she had to just grin and bear it.

"Do I look alright?" Sally asked, looking over her shoulder at Amy Rose who was sitting on the edge of her bed.

"You look fine, Sally," Amy replied, "But aren't you nervous about speaking in front of all those people?"  
"Julayla taught me well," Sally said speaking of her late mentor, "public speaking isn't that difficult for me."  
"I thought the Prime Minister said that this emergency session wasn't going to be taking place until the middle of this week," Amy said.

"I was a little surprised myself," Sally admitted, "but I guess the Prime Minister was just trying not to make any promises that he knew he wouldn't be able to keep. I just wish Bunnie was here, I feel like I should do something with my hair. Oh well."

"She and Antoine deserve a chance to have their honeymoon," Amy stated when there came a knock on the door.

"Could you answer that, Amy?" Sally asked brushing her hair.

"Sure thing," she replied as she hopped off the bed and opened the door to find the Prime Minister standing on the other side.

"Hi. Is the Princess ready to go?" Carmichael asked.

"Just finishing brushing my hair," Sally called out.

"Just remember what I told you," the Prime Minister said.

"That the Vanu Sovereignty will stage a walkout as protest of me being there?" Sally asked as she appeared in the doorway with NICOLE clutched in the palm of her hand.

"Just don't let them get to you," Carmichael said, "No matter what."

"Good luck, Sally," Amy said.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys in a few hours," Sally said as she followed the Prime Minister.

Sally and Carmichael arrived in the main entryway and found Sonic and the others waiting for them so that they could give them their best wishes.

"Looking good Sal," Sonic complemented, "You sure you don't want me to come?"

"You'd be bored out of your mind," Sally replied.

"Good luck, Aunt Sally," Tails said.

"Don't worry, we'll be back soon," Sally said.

* * *

Location: United Assembly

Sometime later...

* * *

The United Assembly; the seat of power in the Terran Republic was a large and possibly one oldest buildings in Central City. She had expected a building of such importance to be located in the City Center, but to her surprise it was instead located in the heart of Beacon Hill. The Limousine carrying her and Prime Minister Carmichael pulled to a stop out in front of the building where numerous photographers and reporters waited to snap photos or get a question answered as they stepped out of the vehicle.

"PRINCESS SALLY! PRINCESS SALLY! KATE LOCKWELL FOR UNN. HOW DO YOU PLAN ON CONVINCING THE ASSEMBLY TO ALLY AGAINST THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!" one of the reporters shouted.

They ignored the numerous questions being thrown at them and marched up the steps and stepped through the entryway. Numerous elected officials stood chatting in the cavernous hall with walls that were covered in bright wood panels with numerous portraits hanging from them, while the floors were made of dark brown marble laced with gold.

"By Aurora," Sally muttered, "This place is huge."

"It's the seat for the entire Terran Republic," a voice said.

Standing behind them was a middle-aged man dressed in a dark suit with dark hair and a full beard that was heavily saturated with gray.

"Arcturus, so good to see you. Princess allow me to introduce you to Arcturus Mengsk my Finance Minister," Carmichael introduced.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said.

"Victor!" a voice belonging to Deputy Prime Minister Jorgensen called out as he approached the group, "I think you might want to know that I've seen Cauley in the building."

"Good. Please excuse me while I chew him out," Carmichael said as he limped off.

"Whose Cauley again?" Sally asked.

"Minister of Defence," Arcturus answered pointing to a young man with short gray hair, blue eyes and dressed in a dark blue suit.

Sally watched as the Prime Minister approached the man and exchanged a few words which soon turned into a heated argument.

"This isn't gonna end well," Jorgensen muttered.

"Can you tell what he's saying?" Sally asked.

"Basically...I'm firing your ass," Arcturus said.

"Long time coming," another voice said as a younger man with light coloured hair that reached his neck, light coloured eyes, and wearing a dark suit like everyone else.

"Good of you to come, Corbin," Arcturus greeted.

"Vanu not here?" he asked.

"Aren't coming. Baxter ordered his MP's not to show," Jorgensen explained.

"Guess I won't have to worry about them walking out in the middle of my speech," Sally said slightly relieved.

They watched as the Defence Minister stormed off, while the Prime Minister approached them and stopped in front of Arcturus.

"Congratulations you're now the Defence Minister," he said.

"Um...thank you?" he replied unsure how to exactly react.

"I'll have Valevoss take your portfolio," Carmichael said, "Come. It's time."

* * *

Location: Assembly Chamber

Several minutes later...

* * *

The Legislative Chamber of the United Assembly was a large semicircular white chamber with a high ceiling that consists of 308 seats for the elected officials while other seats were located in the middle of the chamber where the Speaker of the House resided along with numerous other officials. The chamber was quickly filling up with people although Sally noticed that several remained vacant as she stood next to Carmichael and Jorgensen waiting for the emergency session to begin. The Speaker; an older man with gray hair that had strands of gold took his position behind his desk and addressed the gathered assembly.

"Silence...Ladies and Gentlemen can we please have silence," the Speaker said talking into a microphone.

The chattering became almost inaudible before the Speaker resumed talking.

"Ladies and Gentlemen this emergency session of the Assembly will now convene," he said as he stepped aside allowing Sally to take his place.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the United Assembly, my name is Sally Alicia Acorn; princess and envoy of the Republic of Acorn. I thank you for allowing me to speak..."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Mountainside Assault

Location: Soleanna, Murasia

Morning, the next day...

* * *

Though they would have liked to have stayed longer Bunnie and Antoine simply couldn't knowing that they were needed in Augustgrad to help Sally and the others. They had watched a broadcast of the Princess' speech before the United Assembly the previous day, but some of the various televised news commentary programs weren't exactly being kind to her or even the Prime Minister for that matter. Husband and wife were currently within their room at the Soleanna Grand Royal packing up their belongings before they checked out and boarded the train to Augustgrad. There was a small television that was currently broadcasting a hard-line political talk show out of Torsonis that was spewing all sorts of garbage. The host appeared to be a card carrying member of the Pro-Human Vanu Sovereignty that Sally had warned them about in her last report to them and he was ranting about various subjects, some bordering on utter treason.

"Zis ez outrageous," Antoine said to his wife, "Zis man ez an idiot."

"Unfortunately people have a right to free-speech and he's well within his," Bunnie commented, "I admit though, it's a little over the top to suggest that all Mobians should be banished from Murasia."

"And zee suggestion zat zee people should rise up and remove zee Prime Minister forcibly," Antoine added shaking his head.

Bunnie zipped up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder once she had pulled on her jacket and hat before she looked over at her husband.

"Ready to go, Sugar-Twan?" Bunnie asked.

"Oui," he replied as he shouldered his own bag.

After checking out of the hotel Bunnie and Antoine walked hand-in-hand towards Bel'shir Gardens; a residential area of Soleanna that was named for the large public flower garden that the district had been built around and where the city's only train station was located.

"Let's cut through the garden," Bunnie suggested.

"Oui, mon bien-aimé," Antoine replied kissing her neck.

They altered their coarse so that it would take them directly through the Bel'shir Flower Garden and as they drew near the air became rich with the scent of blossoming flowers.

"It's such a beautiful city," Bunnie said aloud.

"It ez unsoiled by Eggman," Antoine said, "but for how long?"

"Eggman's sho been quiet since that whole incident at the Burning Rift," Bunnie commented, "But ah don' think he'll stay quiet fer long."

"Non," Antoine said, "He ez planning somethink."

The two strolled along a cobblestone path, past the various flowering plants as they wondered through the heart of the garden before emerging out in front of a large stone building that served as the city's train station.

"Welcome to Nemaka Station," the male attendant said from the ticket counter, "How can I help you?"

"We need two tickets to Central City please, sugah," Bunnie replied.

The attendant went about printing their tickets allowing Bunnie and Antoine a chance to glance around the area and found that it was mostly devoid of people.

"Ah was expecting more people here," Bunnie said.

"There ez only one train that runs to zee city," Antoine replied.

"And most of the people are workin'," Bunnie added.

"The Meinhoff Express will be departing in fifteen minutes," the attendant said, handing over their tickets.

"Merci," Antoine said taking the tickets and headed with his wife towards the platform where a sleek, high-speed Maglev Train awaited.

* * *

Location: Egg Carrier

Several minutes later...

* * *

The bridge of the Egg Carrier was a hub of activity as numerous E-10000 raced about, busy with the ship's operation now that the retrofitting of the E-1 Reactor had been successful.

"Prepared for lift off and plot a coarse for Mount Murasia," Dr. Eggman ordered as he strolled into the chamber and took his seat in his command chair.

"We must deactivate the Umbrella Cloak and all non-essential systems in order to proceed with lift-off," one of the E-10000 stated.

"I already know that," Eggman snarled, slamming his fist into the arm of his chair, "and I am aware that doing so will leave us exposed. But I'll waste no more time."

"What happened to seizing control of Soleanna?" Lien-Da asked stepping onto the bridge along with Gae-Na.

"The Terrans would never expect me to attack the heart of their nation, they'll be completely taken by surprise," Eggman said.

They felt a shudder vibrate through the entire ship as the thrusters kicked in and it ascended into the sky.

"Enemy air craft are converging on our location," reported one of the E-10000's, "Pursuers include: one _Behemoth_-class battlecruiser, twelve CF/A-17 Wraith, six Valkyrie missile frigate, and several unidentified vessel classes."

"That was quick," Gae-Na said.

"Looks like they hadn't given up the chase after all," Lien-Da commented smugly.

"I want this ship at moving at maximum thrust," Eggman ordered, "bring all weapon-systems online."

"CF/A-17 Wraiths are moving into attack formation," another E-10000 reported as the Egg Carrier shook from the impact of several Gemini AA missiles.

"This is suicide," Lien-Da stated.

"If I wanted your damn opinion I'd ask for it," Eggman shouted, "If you don't like it then by all means jump outta the nearest airlock."

"_Behemoth_-class battlecruiser preparing to open fire," yet another E-10000 reported.

"Fire all weapons, target that cruiser. We can't risk taking a hit from its Yamato Cannon!" Eggman yelled.

Every missile and laser battery of the Egg Carrier immediately targeted the massive airship and opened fire on it, the attacks screaming through the air as they flew towards its intended target but fell short when they struck the ship's defensive shields.

"Did you know their ships had shields?" Robotnik asked glancing over at Lien-Da and Gae-Na.

"Incoming attack," came an alert as the entire ship shook violently.

Several fighter-bombers, the same class of ship that had been present during the skirmish in the Shamar Desert flew past and prepared for another bombing run.

"AH! Damn it!" cursed Eggman.

* * *

Location: Meinhoff Express

That same time...

* * *

The Meinhoff Express was speeding along the tracks at well over a hundred miles an hour, the jungle foliage whipping past the windows as Bunnie and Antoine enjoyed the ride as they sat in the rather comfy seats within the luxurious interior. There were very few people onboard the train, with the exception of a young woman with long light coloured hair and wearing a white sundress, while seated next to her was one very talkative little boy who had short, dark hair and dressed in a white T-shirt, black shorts, and black sneakers. The train was moving at a steady pace and within an hour they would be arriving at Ulaan Station. Bunnie glanced over to Antoine and found that he was out like a light since there was very little else to do until they arrived at them to their destination.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look, a plane," the boy said pointing to the window behind Bunnie.

"Keep your voice down, Johnny," the woman said.

The cyborg rabbit glanced over her shoulder and saw a large ship flying past that was clearly under fire from the smaller vessels that were trailing it.

"The Egg Carrier!" Bunnie cried out waking Antoine from his sleep.

"Bunnie?" Antoine asked.

"Eggman's attacking," she said springing out of her seat and headed towards the front of the train.

The two Mobians raced past several frightened passengers until they reached door to the train car and headed outside. The wind was deafening and it lashed at the faces of Bunnie and Antoine as they watched the Egg Carrier took a ludicrous amount of punishment from the Terran Air Force as it drew closer and closer to Mount Murasia. A long, thin cannon slid out from the bow of the ship and electricity danced along the barrel as a ball of energy formed at the tip, building in power before firing. The blast collided with the mountain face and for several seconds nothing happened as the rock began to get superheated before exploding outward leaving a horrid looking wound in the mountain as rocks the size of buses rained down on the jungle floor.

"MON DIEU!" Antoine screamed as one boulder-sized rock slammed in the ground near the train.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Siege of Diamond Hills

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

One hour later...

* * *

"Bad, this is bad," Sally said as she raced down the steps of the foyer with NICOLE clutched in her right hand.

She had just received an barely audible emergency transmission from Bunnie and Antoine reporting that Eggman had just breached the exterior of Mount Murasia and now reports were coming in stating that he was currently assaulting the capital of the Diamond Hills province. She needed to alert Sonic and Tails to the situation and soon found them sitting inside the den watching a rerun of a popular children's cartoon called Billy Hatcher with Leon, Ray, and Gill.

"This show is cheesy, isn't there something else on?" Sonic asked with boredom in his voice.

"It's the summer," Leon replied, "There's nothing else good on daytime television."

"I-It's not that b-bad," Ray said, "its kinda c-cute."

"Yeah, this show's not that bad once you get past all the bad egg puns," Tails commented with a grin.

"If you want you can ask Molly to borrow Phantasy Star Universe. She has the entire season if you'd rather watch that," Leon suggested.

"We've got an emergency!" Sally cried out as she burst into the room.

"What's the prob Sal?" Sonic asked turning to look at her.

"Eggman's in Augustgrad. He breached Mount Murasia," the Princess said, "Bunnie and Antoine were on the train headed here when the attack happened. They're alright, but NICOLE's been monitoring the communications and Eggman's begun a siege of Diamond Hills."

"I'll prep the Cyclone for launch," Tails said as he hopped off the couch and raced off with Gill trailing behind.

"Well...can't say that Eggman never took the direct approach," Sonic said as Leon turned on UNN where the entire incident was being reported.

A massive, four legged mechanized war machine was stomping through the downtown core of the city as police and military desperately tried to fight it off while various robotic soldiers of the Eggman Empire raced about.

"Looks like National Guard's been deployed," Leon said.

"What about Mengsk? He's the defence minister," Sonic said, "Shouldn't he have anticipated this?"

"He's been the Minister of Defence for barely two days," Sally replied, "regardless you'd better get over there and do your thing."

"Right. Wish me luck," Sonic said as he raced out of the compound the and leaped into the back seat of the waiting Cyclone.

"Hurry Tails," the hedgehog said, "There isn't much time."

"Roger," replied the fox as he gunned the engines and took to the air.

* * *

Location: Diamond Hills

Sometime later...

* * *

Diamond Hills was a large metropolis that encompassed the entire peninsula-province and served as the capital of High End fashion for the Terran Republic. Situated on the shores of Glacier Bay it was the only settlement in the entire of the province of the same name and was now under siege by the forces of the Eggman Empire. Plumes of dark smoke rose from the buildings as the Egg Walker moved through the congested streets unchecked, leaving carnage in its wake as it made its way up towards the Länsi Coastline as Major Esmerelda Ndoci raced passed screaming civilians towards a Squad cruiser that was parked further up the street. She was a young woman with olive coloured skin, dark hair that was cut close to her scalp and dressed in camo pants, a white T-shirt, and black boots that pounded the pavement as she ran. Once...long ago she had been married to Gregory Duke of the Old Families but he had died of a brain aneurysm only a year later, her former family members had blamed her for his death and had ultimately been what motivated her to join the Annihilators; a Private Military Company that cared only about who was signing their checks and she had to admit...killing was more satisfying. She spotted her Squad cruiser; a single occupant vehicle that was based on the military's flame throwing buggy known as the Hellion and ran to it. The mercenary quickly jumped onto the hood and popped open one of the exterior storage compartments and removed an AGR-14 Assault Rifle from inside along with several chips of ammunition before turning around and running back towards the battle.

"All I wanted was a coffee," he hissed through her teeth as she took cover behind an overturned car.

From her position she could see the egg-shaped dictator seated in the cockpit with a smug look on his fat face, while cars were being tossed about like toys during a child's temper tantrum as he deployed mines that exploded upon contact with the ground. Esmerelda gripped her rifle tightly and steadied it against the overturned car before

unloading an entire clip, the bullets ricocheting harmlessly off its heavy armour. Dr. Eggman didn't seem to notice that he was under attack and just continued on his reign of terror forcing Esmerelda to take cover from flying pieces of asphalt as the mechanized engine of destruction stomped past. The Solider-for-Hire loaded another clip into her weapon and was ready to make another attempt at attacking it when a series of explosions impacted against its armour but leaving only scour marks in its wake. She looked up to see a small blue plane fly past and begin circling around to make another attack. The Egg Walker launched missiles from the pods mounted on the body and caused the aircraft to veer out of the way as a blue object was ejected from the vessel and slammed into the machine. The object ricocheted off the machine and uncurled into the form of a cobalt blue hedgehog and landed soundlessly on the ground as the Egg Walker continued up the street.

"Well...that a little disappointing, he totally ignored me," Sonic said as he turned to greet Esmerelda only to get a rifle butt to the face, knocking him to the ground, "AH! What the hell you crazy bitch."

"Leave! I don't require your help," Esmerelda said as she rushed past.

"Yeah right because things are working out so well for you guys right now," Sonic said clutching his face.

"And you can do better?" Esmerelda questioned.

"Pfft. I've been fighting Ro-butt-nik since I was five," Sonic replied as he climbed to his feet.

"Well if you feel so confident by all means," she said as she whirled around fired into the air hitting an Egg Flyer and sent it plummeting to the ground.

"Nice shot," the hedgehog commented, "What's up that way any ways?"

"City Hall," Esmerelda shouted.

"Oh great, like this day couldn't get any worse," Sonic commented.

"WOULD YOU GO ALREADY!" Esmerelda shouted.

"Alright, alright I'm going, I'm going," the hedgehog replied as he took off like a whirlwind up the street.

The hilly, narrow streets that made up Diamond Hills made it difficult for Sonic to gain enough speed and having to weave between overturned cars and trucks made it all the harder to close the gap that was between him and the Egg Walker. There was an explosion up ahead and Sonic watched in horror as a burning cable car came tumbling down the street and forcing him to throw himself onto the sidewalk. The hedgehog could feel the heat of the burning wreckage as it slid past, sweeping cars down the street in its wake, but also clearing path that Sonic used to his advantage. As Tails circled about in the Cyclone he watched as the Egg Walker had stopped out in front of a elegant looking building that he assumed was City Hall where a series of what appeared to be hovertanks with mounted rail-guns waiting for him along with a combat walker that reminded him of G.U.N.'s Military Mechs. He was ready to go in for another attack run when the Terran Military Units launched an offensive strike on the Egg Walker as it became immolated by the numerous explosions. The Egg Walker slowly lifted up one massive foot and slammed it on to the ground causing a shockwave that sent several of the hovertanks flying, while the combat walker and the remaining hovertanks stood their ground and continued with the attack. The Egg Walker launched a series of missiles that forced the occupants to abandoned them as they were reduced to melted slag and the mechanized weapon began and turned to target City Hall. Sonic blazed past the Egg Walker causing the entire machine to suddenly crash to the ground and allowing Sonic to stare at Eggman in the eyes through the cockpit window.

"Hiya," Sonic said smugly.

"Ah...if it isn't the bastard rodent," Eggman snarled, "Here to foil my plans are we?"

"You know it," he replied crossing his arms.

"I'll show you," Eggman declared as the vehicle rose up and launched a fireball that forced Sonic to jump out of the way.

"Gotta get him away from here," Sonic said to himself as he ran right underneath the Egg Walker, "You're too slow."

Suddenly the entire cockpit of the Egg Walker suddenly swivelled around to face a stunned Sonic.

"Me and my big mouth," Sonic said as he threw himself out of the way of another fireball attack as the Cyclone preformed another strife attack on the mechanized monstrosity.

"Wretched flying furball, I'll show you," Eggman snarled as he launched a payload of missiles at the aircraft.

The missiles screamed through the air hot on the tail of the Cyclone and no amount of skillful maneuvering could shake them from the fox's tails. The two-tailed fox pushed the Cyclone into a nosedive, the wind lashing at his face causing him to hiss through his teeth as the missiles drew ever closer.

"Sternschnuppen!" Someone shouting as Tails looked over his shoulder and watched as several balls of light flew up and collided with the missiles causing them all to explode.

The Cyclone emerged from the smoke cloud unharmed with the twin-tailed fox glancing down at the buildings below and found a figure standing on one of the rooftops dressed in a red sweatshirt with black cuffs and a black hood that was drawn, black pants, and black sneakers. Eggman launched another payload of missiles this time directed at the hedgehog forcing him to throw himself out of the path.

"I gotta lure Eggman away from all these innocent people," Sonic said to himself as he watched as the Egg Walker suddenly leapt into the air raining down explosive mines before landing in front of the stunned hedgehog, "well...didn't see that coming."

Sonic took off hoping to draw Eggman away from the cramped streets of the city and out into the open where he could deal with him and not worry about innocent people getting hurt, but as he blazed down the street he ran past the same figure that Tails had seen earlier and forcing him to skid to a stop.

"Yo! Get outta the way kid!" Sonic yelled out.

The figure suddenly began making a series of rapid arm movements before crossing his arm, then bringing them forward with his thumbs and index fingers forming a diamond shape as he let loose with a large energy blast that slammed into the Egg Walker as it came barrelling down the street. There was a massive explosion that completely destroyed the Egg Walker and shattered several windows along with it as the Egg Mobile was suddenly ejected and flew out of control past Sonic and slammed into a nearby newspaper stand. The hedgehog turned back to the figure who had come to their aid but found that he had vanished and instead began walking off in the direction of where the Egg Mobile had crashed.

"SONIC!" Tails called out as he brought the Cyclone in for a landing and transforming it into its walker mode, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied, "Things might've been worse if that guy hadn't shown up."

"You saw him too, huh," Tails said pushing the Cyclone forward to follow Sonic, "He came to my rescue when Eggman launched those missiles at me."

The two Mobians stopped in front of the down Egg Mobile that contained an unconscious Eggman inside.

"Yo, Eggman! Wakie wakie," Sonic said as he rapped on the glass canopy.

The two watched as the Egg-shaped dictator's face suddenly fell off revealing wires and circuits underneath along with a blank screen that comprise most of what had been the face.

"Eggman played us," Sonic hissed through his teeth.

"While we were concerned with him attacking the city he was actually going into hiding," Tails murmured.

Suddenly the screen lit up, displaying the number five on its surface in red LED lights followed by the number four

then three...

"Oh crap," Sonic said as he lunged at Tails and grabbed a hold of the Cyclone's external fuselage and started drawing on the Chaos Force, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

The Egg Mobile exploded with fire igniting the surrounding building creating an inferno that consumed everything as the fire and rescue services raced to the scene as Sonic and Tails reappeared in the epicentre. Sonic was completely exhausted as he collapsed to the ground after trying to teleport away from the explosion, but due to his infrequent use of the ability (due to the fact that he'd rather rely on his own natural abilities) he was only able to throw themselves six seconds into the future.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" Tails asked concerned as he hopped out of the Cyclone.

"Y-yeah," Sonic said as the fox helped the struggling hedgehog to his feet, "forgot how taxing using Chaos Control was on my body that's all."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Reunion

Location: Central City Airport

5:00pm...

* * *

Tails climbed into the cockpit of Freedom Two and took his place once again behind the controls of Freedom Two and strapped himself in as Sally entered shortly after and followed suit. Bunnie and Antoine were still stranded out in Murasia following the attack on Mount Murasia and the subsequent attack on Diamond Hills had forced a nationwide suspension of all civilian travel forcing them to walk all the way to the airport to retrieve Freedom Two. Prime Minister Carmichael was making calls that would allow them to proceed with the mission, but until they got the green light they would just have to sit and wait.

"What a day," Amy said shaking her head as she entered the cockpit with Gill hanging on to the pink hedgehog's shoulder.

"You're telling me," Sally replied, "we're not doing so well getting the Terrans to ally, not when the United Assembly is deadlocked on what to do and the Vanu Sovereignty's doing everything in their power to keep it that way."

"The Vanu are idiots, they'll run out of options eventually," another voice said as the Mobians turned to see the Prime Minister's daughter standing in the entryway of the cockpit.

"Molly? What are you doing here?" Sally asked surprised.

"Figured anything was better then being stuck at home, this travel ban has really ruined my plans for tonight," she replied.

"You're welcome to come along," Sally said, "but we really don't know how long we'll be stuck here until we get the green light."

"That's alright, I was hoping that you might like to tell me about your home," Molly said, "You haven't really spoken about it much."

"Originally the seat of the Kingdom of Acorn was situated in the city of Mobotropolis, but shortly after the Great War Robotnik; who had been an ally to the kingdom staged a coup and overthrew my father seizing control of the city and rechristened it Robotropolis. Those that escaped fled to the Great Forest and took shelter in the village of Knothole where we formed a rebellion to fight against his rule," Sally explained.

"Eleven years later we were successful in defeating Robotnik and reclaiming the city, but several months later another Robotnik hailing from another dimension called Robo-Robotnik and later Eggman arrived and initiated a series of events that culminated in him re-seizing control of Mobotropolis. We were forced to resettle in Knothole, which eventually became the Kingdom of Knothole and expanded into a city," Amy added.

"It didn't last," Tails said continuing, "A year later Eggman launched a massive military operation that destroyed Knothole and resulted in the capture off all of the citizen except for myself, Amy, Sonic and our friend Knuckles."

"You're forgetting about me," NICOLE said from Sally's hip pouch.

"Oh right! Sorry," Tails said.

"Anyways," NICOLE said as she picked-up where Tails had left off, "Several months earlier Eggman's computer virus "son" created an entire city comprised of nanites, with his destruction I was able to gain control of the nanites and used them to created picture perfect recreation of the lost capitol. During the rescue operation into New Megaopolis I sabotaged Robotnik's teleportation beam's frequency and all the captive citizens were teleported to New Mobotropolis."

"Sounds like you guys have lived an interesting life so far," Molly said crossing her arms.

"There's no disputing that," Sally said.

"Incoming transmission from the Prime Minister," NICOLE reported as Sally removed her from her pouch and opened it up as the Prime Minister's figure was displayed via holo-projector.

"I've contacted Fleet Admiral Raymond Gaskaville and he's agreed to allow you to go airborne," Carmichael explained, "He's gonna have some fighters on standby to escort you to where the Meinhoff Express is located."

"Understood and thank you, we'll see you again shortly," Sally said.

"Good luck," Carmichael replied as the hologram dissipated.

Tails started the engines and slowly pulled out of the hanger and began rolling down the tarmac, picking up speed until they were able to take to the air.

"Head to where Eggman blasted a hole in the mountain," Molly suggested, "Gaskaville's fleet has been deployed there for security purposes, we can meet up with our escort there."

Tails nodded and for the next several minutes Freedom Two soared through the air as a large, dark silhouette formed in the distance until they could clearly make out the unique design of the Terran Battlecruiser.

"Woah," Amy said aloud, "What is that?"  
"The Glorious Strategist; Gaskaville's Flagship. It's a _Minotaur_-class Battlecruiser," Molly explained.

"We saw one in Soleanna the day after Eggman's attack on the city," Tails said, "I think it was called the Norad II if I remember correctly."

"That's right," Molly said, "The Norad II is General Duke flagship and the command vessel of Alpha Squadron."

As they drew closer to the ship they caught a glimpse of the massive hole that the Egg Carrier had caused and the damage done to the artificial sky, while several large, visible cracks extended outward from the hole.

"Wow," Sally remarked, "Robotnik really did a number on the mountain."

What are those weird-looking ships flying around? They look like bent construction cranes," Amy said.

"Those are TF-620 Nomads," Molly explained, "they're an advanced engineering craft. They must have been dispatched to check the structural integrity of the mountain."

"Makes sense," NICOLE said, "Having the mountain fall on your head would make for a very bad day."

"The Glorious Strategist is hailing us," Tails reported, "Patching them through."

A small image appeared in the cockpit of an older man dressed in a black military complete with a cap with a droopy gray "Hungarian" moustache and a left eye that seemed to glow red indicating that it was a cybernetic replacement.

"This is Fleet Admiral Raymond Gaskaville to Freedom Two. Four Vikings and a Raven are en route to provide escort," he said.

"Thank you very much," Sally said, "We appreciate it."

"What's a Raven?" Amy asked.

"What a Viking?" Tails added.

"The Raven is a primarily support craft that can detect cloaked enemies," Molly replied, "and the Vikings are a versatile craft that has the ability to switch between air mode and ground mode."

They watched as four large but sleek looking fighters were deployed from the Glorious Strategist's docking bay and took up position on either side of Freedom Two while a fifth odd-looking aircraft took up the rear as they passed through the wound in the mountain.

* * *

Location: Murasia

Several minutes later...

* * *

Freedom Two glided over the sprawling Murasian Jungle with their escorts easily keeping up with their speed as they reached the site of the stranded Meinhoff Express. The train sat on the tracks but a large chuck of mountain rock was currently blocking it's path and it didn't look like anyone was trying to clear it. Tails piloted Freedom Two to a nearby clearing began its decent as their Viking escort followed suit and switched into assault mode as the three Mobians and single Terran disembarked as the lead Viking approached. It was a large mechanical unit that was slightly smaller then the Goliath combat walker and armed with twin Gatling cannon.

"We've just been given orders by Fleet Admiral Gaskaville to see if we can clear that blockage," the Terran inside the machine reported.

"We understand," Sally said, "we'll head over to the train now."

The group headed towards the Meinhoff Express, escorted by one of the Vikings that had chosen to remain behind while the Raven slowly followed them. They found Bunnie and Antoine sitting on a large blanket that had been spread out on the grass along with several Terrans and Overlanders enjoying a picnic.  
"Howdy Sally-girl," Bunnie said upon spotting her and the other.

"Hey guys," Tails said, "You alright."

"Sho are," Bunnie replied.

"Sorry we didn't tell you guys we were coming," Sally said, "Communications to the outside are suffering from heavy interference."

"Military communications seem to be working but that might just be because the Glorious Strategist is so close by," their Viking escort said.

They could hear machine gun fire coming from the front of the train as the other Vikings tried to demolish the obstruction on the tracks.

"Bunnie, Antoine, I'd like you to met Molly Carmichael; the Prime Minister's daughter.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Molly said.

Bunnie and Antoine were about to say something when the engine of a _vulture_-class hover bike filled the air as a figure appeared further down the tracks and moving at a high rate of speed until skidding to a stop. The man was helmeted with broad shoulder and dressed in a pair of well-worn buckskin leather pants, a dusty white T-shirt, and a black lightweight combat vest. The man pulled off the helmet reviling a head of sandy blonde hair, and neatly trimmed moustache and beard.

"Hey! It's that marshal for Soleanna," Tails said recognizing the man.

"Lidya!" Raynor called out.

"Over here James," replied the woman wear a white sundress.

"Hi daddy," replied the boy that she held in her arms.

"Thank god you're both all right," he said rushing over to them, "I wanted to get here sooner but Soleanna went into lockdown the minute Eggman's vessel was spotted."

"We should get ready to leave," Sally suggested, "We've got a long way to go to reach Central City and we have to walk to the Prime Minister's residence because of the travel ban."

"Oui. Zat ez sounding very good," Antoine said as he and Bunnie climbed to their feet.

"Hey! Galileo! If you're just gonna float there why don't you help out," the heard one of the Viking pilots say through the comm. link.

"This vessel will comply. Please vacate area," came the monotone reply of the Raven as it floated off.

They watched the other Vikings transform into their aircraft froms and flew away from the scene as an object was fired from the Raven that collided with the obstruction and exploded.

"Obstruction removed," the Raven replied.

"C'mon guys, let's go," Sally said.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Voyage

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

Late evening, two days later...

* * *

Prime Minister Victor Carmichael's already sour mood had just been made even worse after what Defence Minister Arcturus Mengsk had just reported as his holographic form stood before him.

"So what your basically says is that Cauley's been siphoning off military funding the entire time he's been in charge of the Ministry of Defence," Carmichael said massaging his temples, "things just keep getting better and better."

"That would be the most logical assumption," Arcturus replied, "I'm sorry to have to inform you of this especially with everything else that's going on."

"No, no, you did the right thing," the Prime Minister said, "Any idea where the money went."

"Only that some of it has been earmarked for companies and programs that don't exist," Mengsk replied, "he's probably using them launder the money."

"Better bring in the Auditor General," Carmichael said, "contact Aldeo Cistler and ask him to perform an audit, hopefully he'll be able to figure out where the money went."

"What about Cauley?"

"He's innocent until there is proof of guilt," he replied.

"We both know that's bullshit," Mengsk said.

"Yeah, but we can't do anything until Cistler compiles his evidence," Victor said, "Then we can contact the authorities."

"He could already be in the wind," Arcturus stated.

"Perhaps, but there's only so far he could go before big brother finds him and Odin has eyes everywhere," Carmichael explained.

"You know I always wondered why the King's Infrastructure AI was named Heimdall. You'd think that the all-seeing guardian would be more fitting to serve as the Infrastructure AI for all of Augustgrad rather then Odin," Arcturus commented.

"I think that's a discussion for another day, don't you?" Victor asked.

"You're probably right, I'll talk to you later," Arcturus said as his hologram disappeared.

* * *

Location: Sally's Room

That same time...

* * *

Sally sat in front of her vanity dressed in a blue nightgown with NICOLE laying open on the counter in front of her as she he busied herself with brushing her hair. Things were definitely not going as planned with the United Assembly still deadlock over what to do and the Vanu's constant interference wasn't helping to move things forward. Not that many of the MP's supported the idea of going to war to begin with. She was starting to feel discouraged, but all she could do was to put on a brave face and hope for the best while she pretend that nothing was bothering her.

"Sally?" NICOLE asked as he holographic form appeared before her.

"Yes NICOLE?"

"Don't let it bother you," she replied, "I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"Nothing's bothering me," Sally replied defensively.

"Sally, I know you well enough to know when something is bother you," NICOLE said causing the Princess to sigh.

"You're right," Sally admitted, "I knew that getting the Terrans to ally with us was going to be hard I just never thought that it would be this difficult."

"Well it's as you said before; even if we don't get the Terrans to ally we'll have still managed to open Diplomatic Relations with the Republic..." NICOLE stated, "Wait...incoming message."

"Whose it from?" Sally asked.

"Unknown and I can't triangulate the signal since it being bounced through a dozen different relays," NICOLE stated, "I'll display the message now."

I REQUIRE YOUR PRESENCE AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE,

YOU MAY BRING ALONG TWO OTHERS WITH YOU TO THE

COORDINATES PROVIDED.

THE SCHOLARLY ONE.

"The Scholarly One? Wasn't that the same name that was attached to Sonic's Extreme Gear?" NICOLE asked.

"It was," Sally replied, "Looks like he and our benefactor are one and the same. Where do the coordinates lead?"

"A small island in Tyrador," NICOLE answered, "So what's the plan then?"

"I'll worry about it tomorrow," Sally replied with a yawn as she stood up, "It's getting late anyways."

* * *

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

Late the next morning...

* * *

"Blast! I never meant to sleep till nearly twelve," Sally said as she emerged from her room, "and why didn't anybody wake me."

"There's probably a logical reason why," NICOLE stated.

"Well there's no point in worrying about it now, not when I still have to decided whose coming on this mission," Sally stated as she headed for the staircase.

As soon as she reached the ground floor she found Timothy; one of the servants busy watering some of the indoor plants.  
"Ah, good morning Princess," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning. Do you know where everyone is?" Sally asked.

"The Prime Minister had to leave early this morning for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Jorgensen, several of you friends headed into town, but Mr. Prower and Mrs. D'Coolette are currently still on the premises," Timothy replied.

"Do you know where I can find them?"

"Mr. Prower is currently in the archives and Mrs. D'Coolette is currently out in the garden with Miss. Molly," Timothy explained.

"Thanks for the information," Sally said.

"My pleasure," Timothy replied.

Sally emerged from the Prime Minister's home and found Bunnie and Molly sitting on the bench in the garden underneath the shade of a cherry blossom tree, while Leon ran about along with a dark haired boy dressed in a white T-shirt and black shorts.

"Mornin' Sally-girl," Bunnie greeted.

"You're up late today," Molly said.  
"Never meant to," she replied, "who's the kid?"

"Oh that's Colin Phash, he's the son of my father's Minister of Natural Resources," Molly explained, "He and Leon have known each other since kindergarten."

"Oh that's right, I met his father at the Assembly," Sally said.

"So, what are your plans for the day Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.

"Actually that why I'm here, last night NICOLE received a message from our benefactor, he wants to formally meet but I'm only allowed to two of you with me," Sally said to Bunnie.

"And with Sugah-hog and the others out on the town me 'n' Tails are your only choices," Bunnie said.

"I was going to discuss it with all of you then decide who should come but yeah that's pretty much the gist of it," Sally replied.

"Sho," the cyborg rabbit said as she stood up, "Ah been wantin' ta see the sites outside this city."  
"Great," Sally replied, "Let's go find Tails."

"I'll let the others know where you've headed off to," Molly offered.

"That'd be great, thank you."

Several minutes later Sally and Bunnie arrived at a large room that contained rows upon rows of shelves that contained a large several hard cover books but the selection was small compared to the vast quantity of electronic Digi-tomes and filmbooks that were present. Several of the books were even locked up due to their delicate state but everything was available for viewing in digital format.

"Wow! The library back home ain't go this many books," Bunnie said.

"Carmichael said that the ancient Terrans uncovered a vault the contained a large collection of human knowledge, so not only do they have all of their own history but humanity's collective history as well," Sally explained.

As the two Mobians continued through the library the found Tails seated at a table reading one of the Digi-tomes with Gill floating about.

"Morning Aunt Sally, morning Bunnie," Tails said not choosing to look up.

"Mornin', whacha readin'?" Bunnie asked.

"A fantasy called King Arthur. It's really interesting," Tails said.

"We need the Cyclone," Sally said, "I received a message from our benefactor and he wants to meet. I want you and Bunnie to escort me."

"Alright Aunt Sally, I'll go get the Cyclone ready," the fox said.

* * *

Location: Tyrador Province

Two and a half hours later...

* * *

Augustgrad's artificial sun reflected off the waters of the Sapphire Sea as the Cyclone V2 soared over several small jungle covered islands that made up the Province of Tyrador; one of the most popular vacation destination for the Terrans of Augustgrad. Tails sat behind the controls while Sally sat in the back seat of the vehicle with Bunnie flying alongside them as they traveled to the home of their mysterious benefactor. His residence was located on an island called Madubi within the province and in another forty-five minutes they would be arriving at their destination. Everything was going well that was until thick, black smoke suddenly began spewing out of the engine housing of the aircraft.

"NOT GOOD!" Tails coughed, as the aircraft's attitude suddenly dropped violently.

"DANGER! DANGER!" Gill screamed.

"TAILS! Do something before we crash," Sally yelled covering her face with one hand.

Bunnie quickly shot forward to catch up to the falling Cyclone and grabbed a hold of the tail end of the vessel and began pulling on it in a desperate attempt to slow its fall but it just kept picking up speed. The cyborg Mobian flew around to the nose of the of the aircraft, grabbing the mounted cannon with both hands and pulled as hard as she could causing the entire vessel to shift and allowing it to make a safe and successful crash landing.

"Everyone ah'll right?" Bunnie asked several minutes later.

"I'm alright, what about you Tails?" Sally asked from the back seat of the Cyclone.

"I'm good," Tails replied, his voice shaky, "I was afraid that the Cyclone still had bugs that need to be ironed out.

Sally hopped out of the Cyclone and quickly removed NICOLE from her hip pouch and opened her up.

NICOLE, can you triangulate our current position?" she asked.

"Triangulating...we are currently located on Timantti Island," she replied, "our crash site is only a twenty minute walk to the resort town of Elsecaro."

"Well...at least we didn't crash on an uninhabited island," Tails remarked, hopping out of his downed aircraft, "Why don't you two head into town while I work on repairs."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Sally asked.

"Yeah. I'll come find you once the repairs are complete," Tails replied.

"Well, alright. We'll see you later then," Sally said as she and Bunnie headed into the jungle.

"I just hope I don't have to do any welding, I don't have a welding torch," Tails said to himself.

The top half of Gill suddenly raised up from the lower half and the robot removed a small hand-held soldering torch and offered it to the twin-tailed fox.

"Thanks Gill, you really are handy," Tails said with a grin.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Stopover

Location: Elsecaro, Tyrador

Twenty minutes later...

* * *

Though the town of Elsecaro only contained fifteen hundred residents buy it was still a popular vacation destination despite the fact that Pridewater; Tyrador's capital was far more popular. But being built amidst the jungle and overlooking the glittering Zephyr Cove it was quiet secluded and many of the tourists that passed through the town enjoyed it for the privacy that it offered. Sally and Bunnie noticed the air was lightly scented with cinnamon as they emerged from the jungle and found themselves standing on a crowded sidewalk lined with tourist shops, art galleries, delicatessens, bars and restaurants while stings of colourful lights hung from the buildings.

"Mah stars," Bunnie said, "This town sho is lively."

"I read that Augustgrad had a variety of ecosystems," Sally commented, "not sure why this is such a surprise, we passed through the desert on the way here. That just goes to show you how much more technologically advanced the Terrans are compared to their Human cousins."

The two friends strolled along the sidewalk for some time until they reached a pedestrianized area that was completely devoid of vehicular traffic. A large crowd of people had gathered around a boxing ring that had been erected in the middle of the street for some sort of tournament.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the next match will pit last year's champion; Akira Yuki against newcomer Lei-Fei," an announcer declared.

They watched as a young man with spiky black hair and dressed in a white fighting Gi with a matching strip of cloth tied around his forehead stepped into the ring followed by a-headed man entered the ring dressed in the attire of a Buddhist Monk several minutes later.

"Ah don't undastand how people can get enjoyment outta fightin'," Bunnie commented.

"Well I'm not interested in watching two men beat each other senseless," Sally said as the two opponents began assaulting one another with a flurry of punches and kicks, "Let's see what else there is to do."

The two continued their tour of the town and found that numerous stalls had been set up, some containing food while others had carnival games for all to play.

"Hey Sally-girl, how bout we play some games," Bunnie suggested.

"I suppose so," Sally replied, "It'll help kill some time until Tails repairs the Cyclone."

Sally and Bunnie stopped at a one of the stalls that had a game of Whac-a-Mole set up for people to play while a large quantity of stuffed animals were on display in the back of the stall for the winners.

"Step right up, one and all and try your hand at a game," declared the game operator.

The two Mobians each grabbed a padded mallet and were joined by several Terran and Overlander children who readied themselves.

"The rules are simple boys and girls, the three people with the highest scores wins a prize of their choosing." the operator said, "everyone get set and go."

The participants watched a series of purple animatronic mole popped up through one of the holes and she proceeded to smack it along with any others that happened to pop up. This went on for a full minute before the countdown expired and the winners were announced; Bunnie had not so surprisingly placed first followed by Sally and finally a young Overlander boy had come in third. They had enjoyed several other games that were available and several more minutes later they were continuing down the street.

"Well that was fun," Sally said, "It's nice to get a distraction once and a while and forget about all the problems in the world."

"Sho is Sally-girl," Bunnie replied as she carried a large stuffed purple seal with spikes and red scarf tied around its neck.

"I must admit, this thing is kinda cute," Sally said as she stared the stuffed blue penguin with a red scarf that she had won, "what should we do now?"

"Ah don' know, Sally-girl...howza but we grab somethin' ta eat," Bunnie suggested.

"Now that you mention it I did miss breakfast this morning and I haven't eaten all day," Sally said.

"Then it's settled," Bunnie declared, "we'll grab some grub and head back to the Cyclone."

* * *

Location: Mahtava Jungle, Timantti Island

Twenty minutes later...

* * *

The damage that the Cyclone had sustained from the crash was not serious, it could still fly and was easily repairable once they returned to Central City. The cause of the crash was just a simple case of the engine being clogged with dust from their flight through the desert that spanned the provinces of Ash'Arak and Rio Del Santos. All that it required was to flush the engine clean but it was a time consuming procedure at the two-tailed fox was unaware that Bunnie and Sally were standing behind him until one of them tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh hey," Tails said turning to greet them, "Been waiting long?"  
"Just got back," Sally replied holding up a brown paper bag, "We brought lunch in cause your hungry."

"Yeah sure," he replied pushing his goggles up to his forehead, "I'm pretty much done here, just need to let the engine dry out for a little while before we take to the air again."

The trio to a seat on the hard ground and Sally removed several packages that were wrapped in newspaper along with a small box.

"What is it?" Tails asked as he took one of the packages.

"Fish and Chips. Don't ask me why it's wrapped in news paper," Sally said.

"Seems kinda weird," Tails said eating away.

"So Sally-girl any idea who our friend is?" Bunnie asked.

"I'm not sure," the Princess admitted, "But I got a sense of familiarity when one of his agents approached me when we were at that dinner for the museum reopening."

"Guess we'll find out soon enough," Tails commented finishing his meal, "That was good."

"We got desert too, Sugh," Bunnie stated pushing the box forward.

"What are they?" Tails asked as he opened the box and found that it was filled with what looked like donut holes covered in powdered sugar.

"I think that they called them Ebleskiver," Sally replied, "but other people were calling them pancake puffs."

The group ate in silence for another few minutes before finishing placing Sally placed the garbage and the prizes they had won in one of the Cyclone's exterior storage compartments and climbed into the backseat once Tails had gotten himself strapped in.

"Ready to go Tails," Sally said.

"Rodger," Tails replied.

Tails immediately switched the Cyclone from flight mode to mech mode and swivelled the entire vehicle around in order to get themselves pointed in the right direction and hit the boosters allowing it to levitate off the ground before returning it to its air mode and hitting the thrusters.

* * *

Location: Madubin Island

Forty-five minutes later...

* * *

Madubin Island was jungle covered like all the scattered islands that made up the Province of Tyrador but due to its small size it made it impractical for colonization and thus was privately owned. It looked rather underdeveloped until the three Mobians drew close enough to see a large mansion located at one end of the island and Tails headed in that direction. The young fox was forced circle around several times before finally finding a location right next to an Olympic-size swimming pool that was large enough to allow them to land. The Cyclone landed softly on the grass slowing to a stop as Bunnie dropped out of the sky and landed without a sound. A figure dress in green appeared in a flash of light and Sally immediately recognized it as the same individual who had approached her at the museum.

"Princess Sally, thank you for coming," he said as she climbed out of the backseat of the Cyclone, "the master hadn't been expecting you to arrive today."

"He did request our presence," Sally commented.

"Well...he did say at our earliest convenience," NICOLE commented.

"Come with me, he'll be wanting to see you now that you are here," he said turning.

"What about the Cyclone?" Tails asked as he climbed out of the contraption.

"We will have someone transport it to the Engineering Bay until you are ready to leave," he stated as he started walking away.

The Mobians trio followed their guide towards a staircase the curved its way up to a large patio that overlooked the pool when thunder echoed across the sky.

"Sound like a storms a comin'," Bunnie commented as she stared into the ever darkening sky.

"Good thing we arrived when we did," Tails added.

They reached a large set of elegant-looking patio doors that were left wide open to allow the wind to circulate throughout the massive estate and where the purple haired figure who had delivered the Chaos Emeralds was standing.

"A pleasure meeting you again Princess," he replied stepping aside so as to allow them passage, "The master is waiting."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Explanations

Location: Madubin Island

Late afternoon...

* * *

The Mobians along with their benefactor's two minions entered the massive estate was the Japanese inspired architecture that was prevalent throughout the entire interior of the building before they noticed a young boy with a mop of spiky black hair and dressed in only white double seated briefs as he stood before a chessboard studying it intently. Sitting in a chair across for him was an older boy with thick spiky brown hair with matching eyes and dressed in a teal oriental style vest with gold stitching overtop of a red long sleeved shirt, baggy black pants and a pair of black slip-on shoes. The figure could've easily passed himself off as a Human or even a Terran, but Sally knew better then that. The younger boy continued to study the chessboard before finally grabbing one of the chess pieces and moved it to another place on the board.

"Checkmate," the boy declared smugly as he crossed his arms.

They watched as the boy's opponent studied the board for several seconds trying to find some sort of loophole in his strategy before finally admitting defeat.

"You lack inborn aggression yet your merciless when we play chess, Inari," the older boy said before shooting Sally a glance, "Why don't you go watch TV."

"Kay cousin," Inari replied as he raced past his cousin and scrambled onto the back of the couch that was located behind him and hopped down the opposite side and turned on the television that was mounted onto the wall.

"Sorry," the older boy said, "if I had know you had chosen to come today I probably would've asked him to put on more clothes."

"Probably suggest that you might not have," Tails commented crossing his arms.

"Okay wrong choice of words," he replied, "...It's good to see you, Sal."

"Zulon Eredas. What happened to your so-called non-interference policy?" Sally asked.

"Hah! Is that what he told you what his name was?" another voice said.

The group turned to see a monkey-tailed girl standing in the patio doorway dressed in a red T-shirt, black short and a red bandana covering her straight, neck-length black hair.

"Sarada don't you dare," Zulon warned.

"He's real name's Tyranastrasz," she stated smugly.

"YOU BITCH!" Zulon screamed as he snatched up a water bottle from off the floor and hurled it at her head.

The three Mobians were forced to duck the flying object as it hurled past and even Sarada herself was forced to dodge it as she ran off, her laughter could still be heard several minutes afterwards.

"Your sister?" Sally asked.

"Ew...she's my consort...well in waiting that is," he replied his cheeks burning red.  
"You're royalty?" Sally asked surprised.

"I'm the Crown Prince of the largest and strongest kingdom," he replied.

"Wait! Does that mean there are human settlements elsewhere?" Tails asked.

"What makes you think I'm human?" Zulon asked as a long brown monkey tail slipped out from behind his back and draped itself over the armrest of the chair, "I'm a Saiyan."

"What's a Saiyan?" Bunnie asked.

"We're a warrior race that hail from a distinct galaxy. We look exactly like humans except for our spiky hair, our monkey tails, and our born need to battle," Zulon replied, "but there are exceptions to the rule. I'm sure you've got plenty of questions that need answers."

"Yeah, like why you decided to get involved after saying that you had no intention of doing so," Sally said.

"The situation has drastically changed," the green haired man explained.

"Okay I recognize your voice but I can't remember your name," Sally said turning to face him.

"It's Harpuia," he replied, "though I'm not surprise you failed to recognize me, I look vastly different since our first encounter."

"And you've already met Phantom, they both of them serve as two of my four bodyguards," Zulon said.

"Okay...so how y'all know one another?" Bunnie asked.

"It was shortly after Sonic was transformed into Mecha Sonic following his Roboticization and subsequent restoration. During a mission into Robotropolis I was captured by Robotnik's SWATbots and was being transported to the cellblock when he came to my aid," Sally explained, "he easily disposed of the SWATbots and got me to safety before anyone realized what had happened."

"I was sent by the High Council of my people to observe Robotnik and evaluate the threat that he posed and report back, but then Operation: EndGame occurred and Robotnik died in the final battle with Sonic. That should've been the end of it, but then Robo-Robotnik showed up and began manipulating events from behind the scenes before finally revealing himself. Having no previous knowledge of Robo-Robotnik I chose to remain and gather as much information on this new threat as possible," Zulon explained.

"How did you get the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked, "Mammoth Mogul took the one we had stored inside Castle Acorn and the other six are still within the Special Zone."

"It should be pretty obvious," Zulon replied.

"You attacked Mogul," Tails said in surprise.

"No...I had Phantom attack him and steal the grey Chaos Emerald and in turn I used it to draw out the other six emeralds from the Special Zone," he explained.

"But Mogul regained his Chaos Powers thanks to the emerald he stole from us," Sally said.

"Yes but Harpuia and Phantom are machines; Reploids created by the Titan Prometheus who are able to think and act for themselves and have emotions just like every other organic being in the universe. I preformed numerous experiments on Chaos Emeralds prior to the Great Harmony and developed a Chaos Tap that nullifies the effects of the Chaos Emeralds technologically," Zulon explained.

There was a loud thunderclap and the Mobians turned to see that the sky had opened up and it was pouring rain.

"The Cyclone got put away, right?" Tails asked Harpuia.

"Leviathan already took care of it," the Reploid replied.

"Ah hope it clears up," Bunnie said.

"If it doesn't I've got plenty of room for you here," Zulon said as a older woman with short black hair with red streaks and dressed in black leather pants, black boots, and a sleeveless black top entered the room.

"Sir, dinner is ready," she reported.

"Thanks Adria," Zulon replied as he climbed to his feet, "You're more then welcome to join me, I'm not that type of host ya know."

* * *

Location: Madubin Island

Later that evening...

* * *

The rain had finally stopped falling, but it was far too late to fly back to Central City so their benefactor had offered them rooms for the night, just as he had promised. Sally emerged from the estate after a dinner that had consisted of Leeks and Potato soup intent on getting some answers and soon found Zulon sitting in a patio chair with a small child held in his arms as he looked at the stars that the phoney sky projected. The child was only a toddler with mess bright red hair and blue eyes, but what really made the child stand out was the raccoon ears and twin raccoon tails.

"So this is where you disappeared to," Sally said, "Who's the baby?"

"This is Sly, he's my little brother. I found him as a newborn abandoned in the jungle of my island a year and a half ago and I've been taking care of him ever since," he explained.

"What is he? I've never seen a creature like that before?" Sally said.

"We call them Raccoonus, but his people refer to themselves as Tanuki and the once inhabited a world called Vaalbara," he explained, "It was located in the same solar system as my world. It's believed that they were crafted by Gaia just as we were."  
"But it's not there anymore?" Sally questioned.

"The High Council stated that it was destroyed by a meteorite and that everyone had died, but when I was dispatched here I discovered the Titan Vault known as Utgrad floating through space. The Tanuki had settled within the vault years ago following the unification that my "uncle" achieved and they made it their capital. When I when on board to investigate I found them all alive on board. They said that a black comet had appeared in the skies above Vaalbara before the planet was destroyed," Zulon explained.

"So what was the reason that why you decided to get involved? You never did give me a stright answer," Sally asked as a blue haired Reploid appeared as Zulon handed off a now sleeping Sly to her as he climbed to his feet.

"It was Albion," he said grabbing a hold of the railing of the small metal fence that blocked off the balcony, "I watched as the Eggman Empire reduced it ruins yet I stood by and did nothing as the Echidnas were captured and used as fuel for New Megaopolis. I was sent to observe but I don't think that included watching the near genocide of an entire species."

Sally wanted to say something but she just couldn't find the words but fortunately she didn't to since Zulon continued to speak.

"There are things that just don't add up here. This mission is something for a low-class warrior not royalty," Zulon said as he gripped the railing so hard that he bent the metal much to Sally's surprise.

"Then why not just leave?" Sally asked.

"I can't do that, I have to see this through and if that means becoming involved then so be it," Zulon said, "however I won't be the one to defeat Eggman."

"Why is that?"

"Because that would only prove that you are incapable of defeating Eggman on your own," Sarada said stepping out onto the balcony.

"I'm still not talking to you," Zulon said with irritation in his voice.

"Oh stop being so petty," Sarada snapped back, "do you remember earlier when your fox friend asked if there were other human settlements out there?"

"Yeah, we never did get an answer," Sally replied.

"There's a loose coalition of city-states out east known as the Commonwealth of Man," Zulon explained, "It's primarily made up of three cities; Adabat, Apotos, and Spagonia. The Terran Republic has engaged in limited trade with them."

"Oh of course!" Sally cried out as she smacked her forehead, "Lord Regis had said that "it's not often that we get delegates from another nation", It never dawned on me till now, but why didn't Carmichael tell us?"

"You've got enough on your plate trying to get the Terrans to ally," Zulon replied, "Carmichael knows that, he doesn't want you to become distracted from your true goals."

"And there are those who'd rather not see the status-quo change," Sarada added.

"You need to be extremely cautious, I think that the Vanu are planning something," Zulon murmured.  
"Like what?" Sally asked concerned.

"I don't know...not yet at least."

"So...Tyranastrasz huh? Why'd you change it?" Sally asked.

"Inari gave it to me because he could never properly pronounce my real name," Zulon explained with irritation in his voice, "It's easier to say, easier to spell, and I don't hate it unlike my real name. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to bed."

* * *

Location: Madubin Island

The next morning...

* * *

It had taken Sally a while to get to bed but once she did she had had a restful night sleep and soon stepped out of the estate and found that the others had gathered out on the patio for a waffle breakfast along and headed down to join them.

"Sleep well?" Sarada asked.

"Surprisingly yes," Sally said taking a seat between Bunnie and Tails.

Sly was seated in his high chair as he made an utter mess of himself as he went about eating while Inari was resting his head on the table dressed in dark overalls with a white t-shirt, sandals and a white bucket hat with two horizontal blue strips that that ran along the base of it.

"Bored Inari?" Zulon asked.

"When's Bajiru comin' back?" he asked.

"Your brother shoulda been back with Sheik by now," Zulon replied, "I wonder where they are?"

"Where who is?" another voice asked as the group turned to see two figures standing in the doorway to the house.

Both were boys and one of them had spiky black hair boy with hair that stuck out at the sides of his head and dark eyes and dressed in baggy blue pants, with an untucked oriental style orange shirt, and black slip-on shoes while his companion had spiky black hair that stuck straight up with a small bang that hung in his face, a pair of blue pants, a black muscle shirt with a black vest and black boots, while his tails was wrapped around his waist like some sort of furry belt. He was younger then the other boy, but there was an air of maturity that seemed to flow around him.

"Where were you Sheik? Out clubbing all night?" Sarada questioned.

"We were camping out in Agria," Sheik replied annoyed.

"Sally, Tails, Bunnie, this is my twin brother Sheik and my cousin Bajiru," Zulon introduced.

"Nice to meet you," he replied.

Zulon hadn't noticed that Inari had left but upon looking towards the pool he discovered that both he and Bajiru had stripped right down to their underpants as they raced down the hill towards the pool.

"You morons! We have guests!" Zulon screamed.

"So?" Bajiru called back as he jumped into the swimming pool with his brother.

"Idiots," Zulon groaned as he looked eyes with Tails, "I took the liberty of having the Cyclone repaired you can take a look at it if you want to."

"Yeah sure," Tails replied climbing out of his seat, "we should probably get going soon anyways, I'm sure that Sonic and the others are wondering where we are."

"I'll take you to the Engineering Bay," Zulon said as he stood up, "I have something I want to show you."

Tails had been following Zulon for barely five minutes before they reached the estate's Engineering Bay and was lead inside where he found the Cyclone waiting for him. The machine was good as new, better the new to be precise and if he hadn't been flying it when it crashed he would've never known that it had been damaged.

"Wow! The repairs are flawless," the fox said.

"I've had something installed that I think that you might want to take a look at," Zulon stated as he walked over to the side of the vehicle and opened one of the storage compartments where a generator-like device was located inside.

"You modified the Cyclone Without my permission!" Tails yelled.

"You might want to see this thing in action before you bite my head off," the Saiyan suggested causing the twin-tailed fox to let out a sigh.

"Alright, what is it and what does it do?" Tails asked.

"It's a Kinetic Barrier Generator," he explained, "It's a vastly miniaturized version of the one I have installed onboard my warship."

"You have a warship?"

"How do you think I got here? Anyways it repels anything that hits it with a certain amount of force. Start it up if you want a demonstration."

Tails scrambled up the side of the Cyclone's cockpit and pressed the ignition button causing that machine to come to life as he walked away and stopped next to Zulon.

"Too bad I don't have a gun handy, it'd make this demonstration easier," the monkey-tailed prince said as he gathered up a handful of metal screws from a nearby worktable.

He tossed them about in the air several times before hurling them at the Cyclone faster then Tails could possible comprehend and only the flaring of the Kinetic Barrier gave any indication that anything was striking against it.

"Wow!" Tails said, "What's the energy source? How much damage can it endure?"

"It's modified to run off electrostatic energy in the air so its self recharging, but concentrated fire or a hard enough hit like from a rocket you'll lose the shield for a time," Zulon explained.

"Thanks, but why have it installed?" Tails questioned.

"Because I've got a gut feeling that you might need it," Zulon said, "the others are probably ready to leave now."

* * *

Location: Madubin Island

Several minutes later...

* * *

Zulon led Tails and the Cyclone to a wide open area of estate where Sally and Bunnie were waiting patiently for them along with Sarada and Harpuia. Tails had the Cyclone lowered itself to the ground to allow Sally to climb aboard when Zulon suddenly grabbed a hold of her forearm.

"Be very careful Sally," he warned, "I've got a bad feeling."

"I'll be alright," Sally said.

"That's not what I mean," he said, "Something bad is gonna happen, I can feel it. If I get any new information I'll pass it along."

"Thanks," she replied climbing into the passenger seat of the Cyclone.

Tails hit the thrusters and the Cyclone lifted off the ground before transforming into its flight mode and taking to the air as Bunnie flew off after them.

"Good luck Sal, you're gonna need it," Zulon said.


End file.
